Jack Straw

The Right Honourable Jack Straw
Official portrait, 2015
Secretary of State for Justice Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	The Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Succeeded by	Kenneth 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
Secretary of State for the Home Department
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 78) 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 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 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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