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.

References

Category:1946 births
Category:Living people
Category:English Anglicans
Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs
Category:Members of the British House of Commons for English constituencies
Category:Lord Chancellors
Category:Politicians from Essex
Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Category:Secretaries of State for the Home Department
Category:Secretaries of State of the United Kingdom
Category:UK MPs 1979–1983
Category:UK MPs 1983–1987
Category:UK MPs 1987–1992
Category:UK MPs 1992–1997
Category:UK MPs 1997–2001
Category:UK MPs 2001–2005
Category:UK MPs 2005–2010
Category:UK MPs 2010–2015
Category:English Christians
Category:Secretaries of state for justice (UK)
Category:British secretaries of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs