Liverpool born Edwina Currie graduated from Oxford and London and then taught Economics and Economic History and became a tutor for the Open University. A Conservative MP for South Derbyshire from 1983 to 1997 she also served as a Birmingham City Councillor for eleven years and was Chairman of the Central Birmingham Health Authority. She resigned from the Department of Health, where she was government minister from 1986 - 1988, after warning about food safety in eggs. She lost her seat in the 1997 General Election having completed twenty two years of public service. She is a pro-European and has served as Vice-chairman of the all-party European Movement. Edwina Currie is a well-known broadcaster and television personality and has been the subject of several full-length documentary profiles. In 1988 she was runner-up to Mrs. Thatcher in the Woman of the Year poll and Campaigner of the Year in 1994 for her work on gay equality. She is an international best-selling novelist whose latest title will be published in February 2000.

In 1990 Edwina Currie was voted Speaker of the Year by the Association of Speakers' Clubs. She speaks extensively at venues of every size, including guest speaker on cruise ships. She is a regular participant of the Queen Elizabeth 2 Annual Literary Festival.