Gyles Brandreth
Revision as of 17:53, 31 May 2006
Contents |
Shows
Countdown (regular GotD)
Have I Got News for You (guest presenter)
Ultra Quiz (games deviser, series 3)
Biography
Author, raconteur, MP, arctophile and sartorial disaster zone: at one time or another, Gyles Brandreth has been all of these things and more.
He first made a name for himself as President of the Oxford Union debating society, following in the footsteps of such luminaries as Tony Benn, Edward Heath and Hillaire Belloc. After graduating from New College, Oxford, he became an inveterate writer and publisher, and was also instrumental in setting up the World Scrabble Championships. He turned up as a humorous contributor to numerous TV programmes, not least Good Morning Britain and Countdown, and became famed for his huge collection of gaudy knitted jumpers.
In 1992 he was elected MP for the City of Chester, and thus was able to serve as a Conservative whip in John Major's government. Although he claims not to have been entirely cut out for such a role, he did (inevitably) get a much acclaimed book out of it.
After losing his seat in the 1997 election, he went back to writing, TV and after-dinner speaking.
Trivia
He was fascinated with the history of Chester due to his family roots there. However, after years of research he found this family didn't actually come from there...
He twice set the record for the longest after-dinner speech, the second attempt being a 12.5 hour marathon.
He is a former European Monopoly Champion. His trophy was a large model of the car used in the game.
When he entered politics, most of his jumpers were given away to charity. When Countdown celebrated its 2000th episode in 1997, Gyles was one of the guests on a special retrospective programme, and they surprised him by arranging for some of the jumpers' new owners to sit in the studio audience, wearing the garments in question.
He was born in a British Military Hospital in Wuppertal in the German Federal Republic in 1948.
Contact
Gordon Poole Agency Ltd, The Limes, Brockley, Bristol. BS48 3BB
Books / Tapes
Breaking The Code: Westminster Diaries 1992-7 (book)
Brief Encounters: Meetings With Remarkable People (book)
