Shortly after his election to the House of Commons he was appointed parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Anthony Greenwood, Minister of Overseas Development.
[6] Later in the year Greenwood was appointed to the post of Minister of Housing and Local Government, and Whitaker continued to serve as PPS in the new department.
[2][3][5] An admirer of George Orwell, Whitaker was a leading member of a memorial trust, which erected a plaque to the writer in Hampstead and sought to have a statue installed at the BBC's Broadcasting House.
[3][8][9] It was announced in August 2016 that Westminster city council had granted planning permission and that the project would go ahead, funded by £110,000 in private donations.
He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year's Honours 2000 for "services to Human Rights and to the Voluntary Sector".