Jack Straw

**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. 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.  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. 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.

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

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

Straw has tinnitus.

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **honorific-prefix**: <small>The Right Honourable</small>
- **birthname**: John Whitaker Straw
- **honorific-suffix**:
<small>Member of Parliament, MP</small>
- **image**: Jack Straw official portrait 2015 (cropped).jpg
- **office**: Shadow Deputy Prime Minister (United Kingdom), Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- **leader**: Harriet Harman
- **term start**: 11 May 2010
- **term end**: 7 October 2010
- **predecessor**: William Hague <small>(Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet)</small>
- **successor**: Harriet Harman
- **office1**: Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Shadow Lord Chancellor
- **leader1**: Harriet Harman
Ed Miliband
- **term start1**: 11 May 2010
- **term end1**: 7 October 2010
- **predecessor1**: Dominic Grieve
- **successor1**: Sadiq Khan
- **office2**: Secretary of State for Justice
Lord Chancellor
- **primeminister2**: Gordon Brown
- **term start2**: 28 June 2007
- **term end2**: 11 May 2010
- **predecessor2**: Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, The Lord Falconer of Thoroton
- **successor2**: Kenneth Clarke
- **office3**: Leader of the House of Commons
Lord Privy Seal
- **primeminister3**: Tony Blair
- **term start3**: 5 May 2006
- **term end3**: 28 June 2007
- **predecessor3**: Geoff Hoon
- **successor3**: Harriet Harman
- **office4**: Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- **primeminister4**: Tony Blair
- **term start4**: 8 June 2001
- **term end4**: 5 May 2006
- **predecessor4**: Robin Cook
- **successor4**: Margaret Beckett
- **office5**: Home Secretary
- **primeminister5**: Tony Blair
- **term start5**: 2 May 1997
- **term end5**: 8 June 2001
- **predecessor5**: Michael Howard
- **successor5**: David Blunkett
- **office6**: Shadow Home Secretary
- **leader6**: Tony Blair
- **term start6**: 20 October 1994
- **term end6**: 2 May 1997
- **predecessor6**: Tony Blair
- **successor6**: Michael Howard
- **office7**: Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment
- **leader7**: John Smith (Labour Party leader), John Smith
- **term start7**: 24 July 1992
- **term end7**: 20 October 1994
- **predecessor7**: Bryan Gould
- **successor7**: Frank Dobson
- **office8**: Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Secretary of State for Education and Science
- **leader8**: Neil Kinnock
- **term start8**: 13 July 1987
- **term end8**: 18 July 1992
- **predecessor8**: Giles Radice, Baron Radice, Giles Radice
- **successor8**: Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, Ann Taylor <small>(Education)</small>
- **office9**: Member of Parliament (UK), Member of Parliament
 for Blackburn (UK Parliament constituency), Blackburn
- **term start9**: 3 May 1979
- **term end9**: 30 March 2015
- **predecessor9**: Barbara Castle
- **successor9**: Kate Hollern
- **majority9**: 9,856 (21.7%)
- **birth place**: Buckhurst Hill, Essex, United Kingdom
- **party**: Labour Party (UK), Labour
- **spouse**: Anthea Weston <small>(1968–1977)</small>
Alice Perkins <small>(1978–present)</small>
- **children**: Daughter (deceased), son, daughter
- **alma mater**: University of Leeds
Inns of Court School of Law, Inns of Court