Born 1948, Virginia Bottomley was a British Conservative Party politician and former Secretary of State for Health and for Culture, Media and Sport. Stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election, and was offered a peerage later that year. Bottomley gave evidence to the Inquiry on the DCMS at the time of her appointment in 1995 and of debate about the 1990 Calcutt Report and issues of privacy and regulation.
Award-winning investigative writer and journalist, specialising in social affairs and science. Quarmby gave researched evidence on how people with disabilities are treated in the media and the impact it has on their lives. Criticised the Inquiry for being more interested in celebrities than those whose lives may equally be destroyed by bad journalism.
