Rt. Hon Jack Straw MP
The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP is Member of Parliament for Blackburn, having previously served in successive senior Cabinet positions in Labour governments from 1997 through to 2010
Jack Straw is one of the most experienced British and European politicians. During his long career including continuous Cabinet-level roles, he has taken a leading part in many momentous political decisions in both national and international politics.
He has a reputation for clear thinking and professional, pragmatic good sense.
After a prominent radical role in national student politics in the 1960s, he qualified and worked as a barrister, did three years as an advisor to two Cabinet Ministers (Barbara Castle, and Peter Shore), and was then on Granada TV’s flagship “WORLD IN ACTION” programme. He was a London borough councillor, and Deputy Leaders of the Inner London Education Authority.
He first entered Parliament as a Labour MP representing Blackburn in 1979. He had a number of Shadow Cabinet roles before becoming Home Secretary after the Labour Party’s 1997 election victory, and then Foreign Secretary in 2001 and Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal in 2006. He served as Lord High Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from 2007 until 2010.
Now again in Opposition, Jack Straw continues to play a leading role in national politics, on home and foreign policy, and not least in issues involving the UK’s Muslim population (his constituency Blackburn has a sizeable Muslim community). His deft personal style combines with his immense domestic and foreign policy insight (he was closely involved in key decisions before and after the intervention in Iraq) to make him a formidable and fascinating expert speaker.
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After three decades in Parliament and successive Cabinet positions, Jack Straw is one of the most experienced and insightful British and international political figures.
Jack Straw read law at Leeds University and in the 1960s became a national student leader known for radical positions, to the point of being described by the Foreign Office as a “troublemaker acting with malice aforethought” for his political activity involving Chile. After qualifying as a barrister he had various media roles and entered Parliament in 1979 as the MP for Blackburn. He was Shadow spokesman on Education, then Environment and Shadow Home Secretary before being appointed Home Secretary after the Labour Party won the 1997 general election.
His time as Home Secretary had its fair share of controversies (including new measures to increase police powers to deal with suspected terrorists) but also saw the European Convention in Human Rights incorporated into British law.
Appointed Foreign Secretary in 2001, he soon played a leading role in the dramatic and difficult foreign policy problems arising from the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and then the interventions in Afghanistan and then Iraq. He publicly defended these decisions, although later in January 2010 he told the Iraq Inquiry in London that the 2003 decision to go to war “had haunted him”. In 2006 he was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal with responsibility for parliamentary reform. He returned to the Opposition benches after Labour lost the 2010 general elections
Jack Straw has attracted publicity for some of his policy positions concerning Muslim issues, not least his call in 2006 for Muslim women not to wear the full veil: “I felt uncomfortable about talking to someone ‘face-to-face’ whom I could not see”. His close relations with his very diverse Blackburn constituency (including his position as honorary vice president of Blackburn Rovers football club) mean that he has given a lot of thought to sensitive community relations issues in a modern democracy. In 2009 on the BBC’s Question Time TV programme he was a member of the panel which included British National Party leader Nick Griffin.
Although often criticized for his firm approach to a number of civil liberties questions concerning suspected terrorists and then his high-profile role in supporting the Iraq intervention, Jack Straw remains a popular figure in the UK and Europe, not least for his wry sense of humour: as Home Secretary he joked that his large department was “full of civil servants working diligently on projects that might ruin my career”.
His disarmingly understated, professional style as well as his formidable intellect and practical experience in so many policy areas give him a unique profile, not only in the UK and European Union but also at the international level. Few active politicians today match his insight and breadth of senior policy knowledge. He has many striking personal anecdotes and thoughtful examples of what works in politics – and what does not.
