Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a
BritishThe British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politicianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, who was the
Member of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Norwich South from
1997The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
until 2010, and served as
Home SecretaryThe Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
from December 2004 until May 2006.
Early life
The son of Civil Service
Permanent SecretaryThe Permanent secretary, in most departments officially titled the permanent under-secretary of state , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis...
Sir Richard ClarkeSir Richard William Barnes Clarke, KCB, OBE was a British civil servant. He was educated at Christ's Hospital, London and Clare College, Cambridge; he was sixth wrangler in 1931...
, Charles Clarke was born in London. He attended the fee-paying
Highgate School-Notable members of staff and governing body:* John Ireton, brother of Henry Ireton, Cromwellian General* 1st Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief Justice, owner of Kenwood, noted for judgment finding contracts for slavery unenforceable in English law* T. S...
where he was
Head BoyHead Boy and Head Girl are terms commonly used in the British education system, and in private schools throughout the Commonwealth.-United Kingdom:...
. He then read Mathematics and Economics at
King's CollegeKing's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
,
CambridgeThe University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he also served as the President of the
Cambridge Students' UnionCambridge University Students' Union is the university-wide representative body for students at the University of Cambridge, England...
. A member of the
Broad LeftThe Broad Left was a political faction within the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom during the 1970s. It consisted of a working relationship between the Labour Party, the Liberal Party, Plaid Cymru, the Communist Party of Great Britain , and other, non-aligned, supporters in order...
faction, he was President of the National Union of Students from 1975 to 1977. Clarke was widely opposed by the moderate element of the Broad Left, and was contrasted (unfavourably) with his more consensus-orientated predecessor John Randall.
Local Council
He was elected as a local councillor in the
London Borough of HackneyThe London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, being Chair of its Housing Committee and Vice-Chair of economic development from 1980 to 1986. He worked as a researcher, and later Chief of Staff, for
Labour PartyThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
leader
Neil KinnockNeil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
from February 1981 to 1992. His long association with Kinnock and with the
general electionThe United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
defeat in 1992 was expected to handicap him in his career. But Clarke bounced back. He spent the mid-1990s away from national politics, working in the private sector - from 1992 to 1997, he was chief executive of Quality Public Affairs, a public affairs management consultancy - and subsequently emerged as a high flyer under the Labour leadership of Tony Blair.
Member of Parliament
Elected to the
British House of CommonsThe House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
in the
Labour landslide of 1997The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, Clarke served just over a year on the back benches before joining the government as a junior education minister in July 1998. He moved to the
Home OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
in 1999 and joined the
CabinetThe Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
as
Minister without PortfolioA minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
and
Party ChairIn politics, a party chair is the presiding officer of a political party....
after the
2001 general electionThe United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
.
Education Secretary
He returned to Education as
Secretary of StateSecretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
on 24 October 2002 after the resignation of
Estelle MorrisEstelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, PC was a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham Yardley from 1992 to 2005, and served briefly in the Cabinet as Education Secretary.-Early life:...
. As Education Secretary, he defended
OxbridgeOxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
, encouraged the establishment of specialist secondary schools, and (allegedly) suggested that the state should not fund "unproductive" humanities research. His view of universities could be seen as either impressively bold or overly instrumental. In 2003, he boiled down the point of all higher education to one simple sentence when he announced: "Universities exist to enable the British economy and society to deal with the challenges posed by the increasingly rapid process of global change". He also oversaw the introduction of Bills to enable universities in parts of Britain to charge
top-up feesTuition fees were first introduced across the entire United Kingdom in September 1998 as a means of funding tuition to undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students at universities, with students being required to pay up to £1,000 a year for tuition...
, despite a Labour manifesto commitment not to introduce such fees.
Home Secretary
Following the first resignation of
David BlunkettDavid Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
on 15 December 2004, Clarke was made Home Secretary, one of the senior positions in the Cabinet.
He was swiftly at the centre of attention for his advocacy of proposals for countering terrorism. Critics suggest that his reforms to the judicial system undermine centuries of British legal precedent dating back to the 1215
Magna CartaMagna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
, particularly the right to a
fair trialFair Trial was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and Champion sire. He was bred and raced by John Arthur Dewar who also bred and raced Tudor Minstrel....
and
trial by juryTrial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
. He was also criticised for the Identity Cards Act 2006, seen by some as serious infringement of privacy, but Clarke insisted that identity cards were necessary to combat terrorism.
During the 2005 British Presidency of the
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, Clarke pressed other member states to pass a directive to require communications data to be stored for law enforcement purposes. The directive was criticised as infringing civil liberties and privacy, and critics also noted that the directive had been approved very quickly.
Foreign prisoners scandal
On 25 April 2006 it emerged that 1,023 foreign prisoners had been freed without being considered for deportation. Among the offenders, five had been convicted of committing sex offences on children, seven had served time for other sex offences, 57 for violent offences and two for manslaughter. There were also 41 burglars, 20 drug importers, 54 convicted of assault and 27 of indecent assault. Former Home Secretary David Blunkett commented that “Heads should roll” over the scandal, despite the fact that many of the releases occurred during his period as Home Secretary. The Home Office later stated that 288 were released from prison between August 2005 and March 2006, which implied that prisoners continued to be released after the matter had been brought to the attention of the government.
Out of government
The foreign prisoners scandal led many to call for Clarke's resignation, not only from the opposition; Clarke reportedly offered to resign, but
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, the
Prime MinisterA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, refused to accept. However, in the wake of a poor Labour performance in the local council elections of 4 May 2006, Clarke was dismissed in the biggest cabinet upheaval in the history of the Blair governments, to be replaced by Defence Secretary John Reid. Having reputedly turned down the offer of other positions by Blair, Clarke became a
backbencherIn Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
.
At the end of June 2006, he did a series of interviews in which he criticised John Reid for claiming that the Home Office was "unfit for purpose", and that the Prime Minister ought to have defended him to enable him to continue seeing through the reforms he had initiated when first appointed to the post. However, he did state that although Tony Blair had lost his sense of purpose, he wanted to see Blair continue as PM.
In September 2006 Clarke took up a consultancy post with a leading London law firm, leading to speculation he anticipated not returning to frontline politics.
Labour leadership controversy
On 8 September 2006, Clarke gave an interview to the
Evening StandardThe Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
in which he criticised the 'presumption' that
Gordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
would succeed
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
as Prime Minister, helping trigger further disputes about the Labour leadership. Clarke said of Brown's reaction to the leadership crisis, "A lot of people are very upset and cross about that. It was absolutely stupid - a stupid, stupid thing to do." He named
Alan MilburnAlan Milburn is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Darlington from 1992 until 2010...
as a politician who had the stature to be Prime Minister instead of Brown.
Clarke furthered his attack on Brown in an interview with
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
on the following day, accusing Brown of being "a
control freakIn psychology-related slang, control freak is a derogatory term for a person who attempts to dictate how everything around them is done — "a control freak. Scared to let us have differences"...
", "deluded" and "uncollegiate".
Clarke with Alan Milburn set up The 2020 Vision website to discuss the direction of the Labour party after Tony Blair ceased being prime minister. Some observers saw this as a way for Gordon Brown's political opponents to create an axis against him. The website has since closed.
On 23 March 2008, Clarke published a list of 35 Labour held constituencies vulnerable to other parties if fewer than 7,500 voters switched parties away from Labour. This was interpreted by many as an attempt to force a leadership change on the Labour party.
On 4 September 2008, Clarke once again attacked Gordon Brown's performance as leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister, claiming that he only had "months" to improve or else should face a leadership contest. However, when asked whether he would stand as a "
Stalking horseA stalking horse is a person who tests a concept with someone or mounts a challenge against them on behalf of an anonymous third party. If the idea proves viable and/or popular, the anonymous figure can then declare their interest and advance the concept with little risk of failure...
" in order to draw out stronger candidates, he confirmed that he would not.
On 1 May 2009, Clarke joined
David BlunkettDavid Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
in criticising Gordon Brown's leadership and declared that he was "ashamed" to be a Labour MP, citing the
Damian McBrideDamian McBride is a former civil servant and former special advisor to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. McBride began his civil service career at HM Customs and Excise...
scandal.
In September 2009, Clarke gave a speech in which he said that Brown should stand down as Prime Minister in order to help the Labour Party avoid "a hammering" at the next General Election.
Life after Parliament
Having lost his Parliamentary seat in the 2010 General Election by the margin of just 300 votes, Clarke declared he was unlikely to stand again for Parliament.
On 20 September 2010, it was announced that Clarke had been appointed Visiting Professor to the School of Political, Social and International Studies at the
University of East AngliaThe University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
. The appointment is part-time and for an initial period of three years.
Since November 2010, Clarke has also been Visiting Professor of Politics and Faith in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at
Lancaster UniversityLancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
.
Starting 14 October 2010, Clarke has occasionally joined
Michael PortilloMichael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
on the sofa at This Week as the guest political pundit following the departure of
Diane AbbottDiane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons...
to take up her post as Shadow Minister for Public Health.
Personal life
Clarke married Carol Pearson in
HackneyThe London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, London, in 1984. They have two sons, both born in Hackney: Christopher Richard Clarke (born 1987) and Matthew Jack Clarke (born 1990); they live in
NorwichNorwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
.
Clarke speaks Cuban Spanish (a legacy of his student links with
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
), French, and German.
In 2004 he became a Fellow of the
Royal Statistical SocietyThe Royal Statistical Society is a learned society for statistics and a professional body for statisticians in the UK.-History:It was founded in 1834 as the Statistical Society of London , though a perhaps unrelated London Statistical Society was in existence at least as early as 1824...
to acknowledge its contribution to education and in memory of his father, who had been a statistician.
External links
|-
|-
|-
|-