Jack Straw

The Right Honourable

Jack Straw

MP
The Right Honourable; Jack Straw; ; MP
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
	In office; 11 May 2010 – 7 October 2010
Leader	Harriet Harman
Preceded by	William Hague (Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet)
Succeeded by	Harriet Harman
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice; Shadow Lord Chancellor
	In office; 11 May 2010 – 7 October 2010
Leader	Harriet Harman; Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Dominic Grieve
Succeeded by	Sadiq Khan
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	Kenneth Clarke
Leader of the House of Commons; Lord Privy Seal
	In office; 5 May 2006 – 28 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 Home Secretary
	In office; 20 October 1994 – 2 May 1997
Leader	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Tony Blair
Succeeded by	Michael Howard
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment
	In office; 24 July 1992 – 20 October 1994
Leader	John Smith
Preceded by	Bryan Gould
Succeeded by	Frank Dobson
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 (Education)
Member of Parliament ; for Blackburn
	In office; 3 May 1979 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Barbara Castle
Succeeded by	Kate Hollern
Majority	9,856 (21.7%)
Personal details
Born	John Whitaker Straw; 3 August 1946 (age 78); Buckhurst Hill, Essex, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Anthea Weston (1968–1977); Alice Perkins (1978–present)
Children	Daughter (deceased), son, daughter
Alma mater	University of Leeds; Inns of Court

John Whitaker 'Jack' Straw (born 3 August 1946 in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, England) is a British politician. He held several Cabinet posts in the Labour government under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.^[1] He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Blackburn.

Jack Straw became a Labour Party MP at the 1979 General Election for the constituency of Blackburn. He was promoted to the shadow cabinet in 1987 and became the Home Secretary when Labour returned to power in 1997.^[2] His other cabinet posts included: Foreign Secretary (2001-2006), Leader of the House of Commons (2006-2007) and Justice Secretary (2007-2010). He did not choose to become a member of Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet.

Personal life

Straw's first marriage, in 1968, to teacher Anthea Weston ended in divorce in 1977. They had a daughter, Rachel, born on 24 February 1976.^[3] She died after five days because of a heart defect.

Straw is of Jewish descent (his maternal great-grandmother was from an Eastern-European Jewish family). He himself is Christian.^[4]^[5]

On 10 November 1978 he married Alice Perkins, a senior civil servant.^[6] They have two adult children, William and Charlotte.^[7]

He supports his local football club Blackburn Rovers.^[8] He was made an Honorary Vice President of Blackburn Rovers in 1998 by Jack Walker.^[9]

Straw has tinnitus.^[10]

References

↑ Kettle, Martin (28 July 2008). "Clutching at Straw". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
↑ "Straw on trial over jury reform". BBC News. 19 November 1999. Retrieved 5 May 2010.
↑ "Search". www.ancestry.co.uk.
↑ Straw, Jack (2012-09-27). Last Man Standing: Memoirs of a Political Survivor. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4472-2277-4.
↑ "Archived copy". www.thejc.com. Archived from the original on 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ Joe Murphy (19 June 2001). "Cabinet's own marriage failures force retreat on traditional wedlock". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2008.
↑ Colin Hughes (24 July 1999). "Jack Straw: Jack of all tirades". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
↑ "Famous Football Fans". Archived from the original on 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
↑ "Jack Straw". Trusupporter. 12 October 1991. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
↑ "Hoping for the sound of silence". Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2012-08-16.

[1] Kettle, Martin (28 July 2008). "Clutching at Straw". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 14 September 2009.

[2] "Straw on trial over jury reform". BBC News. 19 November 1999. Retrieved 5 May 2010.

[3] "Search". www.ancestry.co.uk.

[4] Straw, Jack (2012-09-27). Last Man Standing: Memoirs of a Political Survivor. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4472-2277-4.

[5] "Archived copy". www.thejc.com. Archived from the original on 2023-02-16. Retrieved 2023-02-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[6] Joe Murphy (19 June 2001). "Cabinet's own marriage failures force retreat on traditional wedlock". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 2 August 2008.

[guardian-profile-7] Colin Hughes (24 July 1999). "Jack Straw: Jack of all tirades". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 January 2012.

[8] "Famous Football Fans". Archived from the original on 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2012-08-16.

[9] "Jack Straw". Trusupporter. 12 October 1991. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 26 March 2010.

[10] "Hoping for the sound of silence". Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2012-08-16.

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