Malcolm Rifkind

Vocation

Family

British politician who served in various roles as a cabinet minister under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major, including Secretary of State for Scotland (1986–1990), Defence Secretary (1992–1995) and Foreign Secretary (1995–1997). Rifkind was the MP for Edinburgh Pentlands from 1974 to 1997. In 1997, his party lost power and he lost his seat to the Labour Party. He attempted – unsuccessfully – to be re-elected in Pentlands in 2001; the constituency was abolished before the 2005 general election and he was adopted, and subsequently elected, as the Conservative candidate for Kensington and Chelsea Rifkind stood for the Kensington seat and was elected at the 2010 general election with a majority of 8,616 votes. He was appointed Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, on 6 July 2010. In July 2016 his memoirs, Power and Pragmatism, were published. He is married to Edith and they are the parents of Caroline Rifkind and the Times columnist Hugo Rifkind. He is also related to his late Conservative government colleague Leon Brittan and is a second cousin once removed of producer and DJ Mark Ronson and his twin sisters, Charlotte Ronson, a fashion designer, and Samantha Ronson, a singer and DJ. Link to Wikipedia biography