Politics
Vaizey first stood for Parliament at the 1997 General Election, when he was the candidate for Bristol East. In the 2001 UK General Election, he acted as an election aide to Iain Duncan Smith. He stood at the 2002 local elections in the safe Labour Ward of Harrow Road in the City of Westminster.
He is regarded as a moderniser in the Conservative Party, contributing in both policy and image terms. He was a speechwriter for Michael Howard, Leader of the Conservative Party until December 2005, and the editor of the Blue Books series, which looked at new approaches to Conservative policy in areas such as health and transport.
Vaizey was one of Michael Howard's inner circle of advisers and a member of a group of Young Conservatives sometimes disparagingly referred to as the "Notting Hill set", along with David Cameron — elected leader of the Party in December 2005 — George Osborne, Michael Gove, Nicholas Boles and Rachel Whetstone. Like Gove and Boles, he is a signatory of the Henry Jackson Society. He is also a Vice-Chairman of Conservative Friends of Poland.
Read more about this topic: Ed Vaizey
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