This article is about the British politician. For other uses, see Jack Straw (disambiguation).
The Right Honourable
Jack Straw
Official portrait, 2015
Secretary of State for Justice Lord Chancellor
In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister
Gordon Brown
Preceded by
The Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Succeeded by
Ken Clarke
Leader of the House of Commons Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
In office 5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007
Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Preceded by
Geoff Hoon
Succeeded by
Harriet Harman
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
In office 8 June 2001 – 5 May 2006
Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Preceded by
Robin Cook
Succeeded by
Margaret Beckett
Home Secretary
In office 2 May 1997 – 8 June 2001
Prime Minister
Tony Blair
Preceded by
Michael Howard
Succeeded by
David Blunkett
Shadow Cabinet posts
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Acting 11 May 2010 – 25 September 2010
Leader
Harriet Harman (acting)
Preceded by
William Hague[a]
Succeeded by
Harriet Harman
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Shadow Lord Chancellor
In office 11 May 2010 – 8 October 2010
Leader
Harriet Harman (acting)
Preceded by
Dominic Grieve
Succeeded by
Sadiq Khan
Shadow Home Secretary
In office 20 October 1994 – 2 May 1997
Leader
Tony Blair
Preceded by
Tony Blair
Succeeded by
Michael Howard
Shadow Minister for Local Government and Housing
In office 24 July 1992 – 20 October 1994
Leader
John Smith
Margaret Beckett (acting)
Preceded by
Eric Heffer
Succeeded by
Nick Raynsford
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science
In office 13 July 1987 – 18 July 1992
Leader
Neil Kinnock
Preceded by
Giles Radice
Succeeded by
Ann Taylor[b]
Member of Parliament for Blackburn
In office 3 May 1979 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by
Barbara Castle
Succeeded by
Kate Hollern
Personal details
Born
John Whitaker Straw
(1946-08-03) 3 August 1946 (age 77) Buckhurst Hill, Essex, England
Political party
Labour[c]
Spouses
Anthea Weston
(m. 1968; div. 1977)
Alice Perkins
(m. 1978)
Children
3; including Will
Education
Brentwood School
Alma mater
University of Leeds Inns of Court School of Law
Signature
John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary from 1997 to 2001, and Foreign Secretary from 2001 to 2006 under Blair. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackburn from 1979 to 2015.
Straw was born in Essex and privately educated both at Oaklands School, where his mother worked as a teacher, and later at Brentwood School.
He studied Law at the University of Leeds before having a career as a barrister. He served as an adviser to cabinet minister Barbara Castle and was selected to succeed her as MP for the Blackburn constituency when she stood down at the 1979 United Kingdom general election.
From 2007 to 2010, he served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and the Secretary of State for Justice throughout the Brown ministry. Straw is one of only three individuals to have served in Cabinet continuously during the Labour governments from 1997 to 2010, the others being Brown and Alistair Darling. After the Labour Party lost power in the 2010 United Kingdom general election, he briefly served as Shadow Deputy Prime Minister and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, with the intention of standing down from the frontbench after the subsequent 2010 Labour Party Shadow Cabinet election.
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started calling himself Jack while in school, in reference to JackStraw, one of the leaders of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. Straw is of 1/8th Jewish descent...
important moments in the modern history of criminal justice in Britain". JackStraw said that ordering the inquiry was the most important decision he made...
publicly stated objective of successive Spanish governments. In July 2001, JackStraw, the British Foreign Secretary, began discussing the future of Gibraltar...
signed on at 107.7 MHz. This Seattle radio station, later owned by the JackStraw Memorial Foundation, provided an eclectic mix of jazz, world music, Pacifica...
Syd Straw is an American rock singer and songwriter. The daughter of actor JackStraw (The Pajama Game) and songwriter Barrie Jean Garvin, she began her...
and Death of JackStraw is a late 16th-century play, possibly written by playwright George Peele. The play tells the story of JackStraw, a rebel leader...
the Grateful Dead occasionally changed the lyrics of the Dead standard "JackStraw" in concert from "we used to play for silver, now we play for life", to...
Straw included the Bar Council. He also pointed out that Mrs Thatcher had said, "I trust JackStraw. He is a very fair man." The motion revoked Jack Straw's...
In May 1997, when the Labour Party came into office, Home Secretary JackStraw ordered an investigation. It was performed by Lord Justice Stuart-Smith...
Anti-Terrorist Branch. An inquiry was launched by the Justice Secretary, JackStraw. There was concern that the bugging contravened the Wilson Doctrine that...
Surrey! Big week" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 March 2020 – via Twitter. Blanchard, Jack (17 February 2020). "Politico London Playbook: Baptism of fire — A touch...
corporations, or local authorities. On 3 July 2007, the Justice Secretary JackStraw laid a green paper before Parliament entitled The Governance of Britain...
Tyler as protagonist. Tyler was the protagonist of the play Wat Tyler and JackStraw, or, The Mob Reformers (1730) first performed at Bartholomew Fair in 1730...
"solution", not the "problem"; Home Secretary Smith, Justice Secretary JackStraw, Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Cabinet Office Minister Ed Miliband all...
media and politics, a wide-ranging judicial inquiry was established by JackStraw, the Home Secretary. Chaired by Sir William MacPherson, the inquiry was...
the other lords commissioners wear bicorne hats. During the period that JackStraw, an MP, was lord chancellor, he was officially named as one of the lords...
2006 local elections, Blair demoted Foreign Secretary JackStraw, and appointed Beckett as Straw's successor. She was the first woman to hold the post,...
Secretary JackStraw granted Shields a full Royal Pardon, citing evidence that had only recently been brought to his attention. However, Straw refused to...
by a "cabal" of Jewish advisers, including Levy, Peter Mandelson and JackStraw (the last two are not Jewish but have some Jewish ancestry). Blair, on...
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