Biography

Dr Anthony Seldon MA, PhD, FRSA, MBA, FRHisS, 13th Master, Wellington College

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Anthony Seldon is a leading authority on contemporary British history and one of the country's most high profile independent school headmasters. He became the 13th Master of Wellington College in January 2006, having been Headmaster of Brighton College since September 1997. He is also author or editor of over 25 books on contemporary history, politics and education.

Anthony Seldon's books include Churchill's Indian Summer, which won a Best First Work Prize, The Thatcher Effect,  Major, A Political Life, the authorised biography of the former Prime Minister, published in 1997 and Conservative Century, published by Oxford University Press, and the standard academic history of the Conservative Party.  He has been historical consultant on the memoirs of several former Prime Ministers and Foreign Secretaries.

After gaining an MA at Worcester College, Oxford, and a PhD at the London School of Economics, he qualified as a teacher at King's College, London - winning the top teaching prize in his year.  He also has an MBA.  His first teaching appointment was at Whitgift School in Croydon in 1983, where he was Head of Politics and in 1989 he returned to his old school, Tonbridge, and became Head of History and General Studies.  In 1993, Dr Seldon was appointed Deputy Headmaster and, ultimately, Acting Headmaster of St Dunstan's College in South London.

His latest books are The Powers Behind the Prime Minister, co-written with Professor Dennis Kavanagh, Britain Under Thatcher, Number 10 :  The Illustrated History, and the Foreign Office :  A History of the Place and its People.  He has written books on Governing Before New Labour and How the Tory Party Recovers. His biography Blair was published in June 2004, and was accompanied by a television series on Channel 4.  His latest book, The Blair Effect: 2001-5, which was published by Cambridge University Press in September 2005, is a follow up to his 2001 book The Blair Effect; which are the standard academic works on the first and second Blair governments.

As one of the leading authorities on contemporary history, Dr Seldon appears frequently on television and radio, and writes for several national newspapers.  He founded, with Professor Peter Hennessy, the Institute of Contemporary British History, the internationally respected body whose aim is to promote research into, and the study of, British history since 1945.  His recent education booklets include Public and Private Education. The Divide Must End (SMF, 2001) and Partnership Not Paternalism (IPPR, 2002).