Malcolm Moss


Malcolm Douglas Moss is a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as the Member of Parliament for North East Cambridgeshire from 1987 until his retirement at the 2010 general election.

Early life

Born in Audenshaw, Lancashire, he went to Audenshaw Grammar School on Stamford Road in Audenshaw, then the St John's College, Cambridge receiving a BA in 1965 then a Certificate in Education in 1967, and an MA in 1969. He taught geography at Blundell's School in Tiverton, being Head of Geography and Economics from 1968 to 1970. From 1971 to 1974, he worked for Barwick Associates Ltd, being an insurance consultant from 1971 to 1972 in Worcestershire, then general manager from 1972 to 1974 in Wisbech. He founded Mandrake Associates Ltd in 1974, being director until November 1994. The company was taken over by Hambro Countrywide in November 1986 since 1998, a Preston based company owned by Chesnara.
He served as a member of the Wisbech Town Council from 1979 to 1983, being Mayor from 1982 to 1983. From 1983 to 1987, he was a member of the Fenland District Council, then from 1985 to 1988 of the Cambridgeshire County Council.

Parliamentary career

He was first elected in June 1987, beating the incumbent Liberal, Clement Freud. He was a junior minister under John Major in the Northern Ireland Office. From October 1997 to November 1999 he was the Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland before being appointed Shadow Minister for Agriculture until October 2001. He served as the Shadow Minister for the Local Government and the Regions until June 2002, and Transport until October 2002. From then until November 2006, he was the Shadow Minister for Culture and Media. He was succeeded by Ed Vaizey.
On 6 September 2007, Moss announced his intention to stand down at the next general election. He was succeeded by Stephen Barclay at the May 2010 general election.

Personal life

He married Vivian Lorraine Peake on 28 December 1965, and they had two daughters. Lorraine died in 1997, and in May 2000 he married Sonya Alexandra McFarlin.

News items