Edwina Currie was born on 13 October 1946 in Liverpool, a city that shaped her early years and set her on a path toward public life. She attended the Liverpool Institute High School for Girls before going on to study at the London School of Economics and Political Science and St Anne's College.

Her career brought her into British politics as a Conservative, and she served as the Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997. During that period she also held the post of Junior Health Minister for two years. In 1988 she resigned amid the salmonella-in-eggs controversy, one of the most prominent episodes of her time in Parliament. Alongside her political career, she has worked as a writer, producing both novels and diaries, and as a broadcaster.

Currie is a British citizen who has worked in English across politics, fiction, and diary writing. Her roles as politician, novelist, diarist, and broadcaster reflect the range of her public career, which began in Liverpool and extended through her years representing South Derbyshire at Westminster. Her resignation in 1988 over the salmonella controversy remains a defining moment of her political life.