Kenneth Clarke
Secretary of State for Health | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In office 25 July 1988 – 2 November 1990 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | John Moore (Social Services) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | William Waldegrave | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office 13 July 1987 – 25 July 1988 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Norman Tebbit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Tony Newton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Kenneth Harry Clarke 2 July 1940 West Bridgford, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse |
Gillian Edwards
(m. 1964; died 2015) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham,
Clarke served in the
The Conservative whip was withdrawn from him in September 2019 because he and 20 other MPs voted with the Opposition on a motion; for the remainder of his time in Parliament he sat as an independent, though still on the government benches. He stood down as an MP at the 2019 general election and was thereafter appointed by Boris Johnson as a Conservative Member of the House of Lords in September 2020.
Clarke is President of the
Early life and education
Clarke was born in
As Chairman of the
In an early-1990s documentary, journalist
Parliamentary career
Clarke sought election to the House of Commons almost immediately after leaving university. His political career began by contesting the Labour stronghold of Mansfield at the 1964 and 1966 elections. In June 1970, just before his 30th birthday, he won the East Midlands constituency of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, south of Nottingham, from Labour MP Tony Gardner. From 2017 to 2019 he was Father of the House. Following his expulsion from the Conservative Party in September 2019, he became the first Independent MP to hold the position of Father of the House since Clement Tudway, who died in office as MP for Wells in 1815.
Clarke was soon appointed a Government whip, and served as such from 1972 to 1974; he, with the assistance of Labour rebels, helped ensure Edward Heath's government won key votes on British entry into the European Communities (which later evolved into the European Union). Even though Clarke opposed the election of Margaret Thatcher as Conservative Party Leader in 1975, he was appointed as her Industry Spokesman from 1976 to 1979, and then occupied a range of ministerial positions during her premiership.
He is the subject of a portrait in oil commissioned by Parliament.[8][9]
Early ministerial positions
Clarke first served in the government of Margaret Thatcher as
Clarke joined the Cabinet as
Health Secretary
Clarke was appointed the first Secretary of State for
He told his biographer Malcolm Balen: "
In January 1989, Clarke's White Paper Working for Patients appeared; this advocated giving hospitals the right to become self-governing
This was not well received by doctors and their trade union, the British Medical Association, launched a poster campaign against Clarke's reforms, claiming that the NHS was "underfunded, undermined and under threat". They also called the new GP contracts "Stalinist". A March 1990 opinion poll commissioned by the BMA showed that 73% believed that the NHS was not safe in Conservative hands.[18] Clarke later claimed that the BMA was "the most unscrupulous trade union I have ever dealt with and I've dealt with every trade union across the board".[18] Although Thatcher tried to halt the reforms just before they were introduced, Clarke successfully argued that they were necessary to demonstrate the government's commitment to the NHS. Thatcher told Clarke: "It is you I'm holding responsible if my NHS reforms don't work".[18]
By 1994 almost all hospitals had opted to become trusts but GP fundholding was much less popular.[19] There were allegations that fundholders received more funding than non-fundholders, creating a two-tier system. GP fundholding was abolished by Labour in 1997 and replaced by Primary Care Groups.[20] According to John Campbell, by "the mid-1990s the NHS was treating more patients, more efficiently than in the 1980s...the system was arguably better managed and more accountable than before".[20] Studies suggest that while the competition introduced in the "internal market" system resulted in shorter waiting times it also caused a reduction in the quality of care for patients.[21][22]
Clarke has been the subject of criticism over the decades for his involvement in the contaminated blood scandal.[23][24][25] It was the largest loss-of-life disaster in Britain since the 1950s and claimed the lives of thousands of haemophiliacs.[26] Theresa May ordered a public inquiry into the contaminated blood scandal in July 2017.[27] In July 2021, Clarke gave oral evidence to the inquiry with his demeanour being widely branded "arrogant, pompous and contemptuous" by the press. It was reported that he argued with inquiry counsel, refused to apologise and at one point even walked out while the chairman, Sir Brian Langstaff, was speaking.[28][29][30]
The MSF trade union claimed that Clarke's exclusion of NHS medical laboratory staff from the pay review body in 1984 led to massive staff shortages and a crisis in medical laboratory testing by 1999.[31]
Later ministerial positions
Just over two years later he was appointed Secretary of State for
Clarke came to work with John Major very closely, and quickly emerged as a central figure in his government. After continuing as Education Secretary (1990–92), where he introduced a number of reforms, he was appointed as Home Secretary in the wake of the Conservatives' victory at the 1992 general election. In May 1993, seven months after the impact of "Black Wednesday" had damaged Norman Lamont's credibility as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Major sacked Lamont and appointed Clarke in his place.
Chancellor of the Exchequer
At first, Clarke was seen as the dominant figure in Cabinet, and at the October 1993 Conservative Party Conference he defended Major from his critics by pronouncing "any enemy of John Major is an enemy of mine."
In the party leadership contest of 1995, when John Major beat John Redwood, Clarke kept faith in Major and commented: "I don't think the Conservative Party could win an election in 1,000 years on this ultra right-wing programme".[33]
Clarke enjoyed an increasingly successful record as Chancellor, as the economy recovered from the recession of the early 1990s and a new monetary policy was put into effect after Black Wednesday. He reduced the basic rate of income tax from 25% to 23%, reduced UK Government spending as a percentage of GDP, and reduced the budget deficit from £50.8 billion in 1993 to £15.5 billion in 1997. Clarke's successor, the Labour Chancellor Gordon Brown, continued these policies, which eliminated the deficit by 1998 and allowed Brown to record a budget surplus for the following four years. Interest rates, inflation and unemployment all fell during Clarke's tenure at HM Treasury. Clarke's success was such that Brown felt he had to pledge to keep to Clarke's spending plans and these limits remained in place for the first two years of the Labour Government that was elected in 1997.[13]
Single Currency: free hand and referendum pledge
The matter of a referendum on Britain joining the planned euro – first raised by Margaret Thatcher in 1990 – was, after much press speculation, raised again at Cabinet by Douglas Hogg in the spring of 1996, very likely (in Clarke's view) with Major's approval; Clarke records that Heseltine spoke "with passionate intensity" at Cabinet against a referendum, believing both that referendums were pernicious and that no concession would be enough to please the Eurosceptics. Clarke, who had already threatened resignation over the issue, also opposed the measure and, although Clarke and Heseltine were in a small minority in Cabinet, Major once again deferred a decision.
Major, Heseltine and Clarke eventually reached agreement in April 1996, in what Clarke describes as "a tense meeting ... rather like a treaty session", that there would be a commitment to a referendum before joining the euro, but that the pledge would be valid for one Parliament only (i.e. until the general election after next), with the Government's long-term options remaining completely open; Clarke threatened to resign if this formula were departed from.[34]
Clarke, writing in 2016 after the
In December 1996, after Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind had commented that it was unlikely that the government would join the euro, Clarke and Heseltine took to the airwaves – in apparent unison – to insist that the government retained a free choice as to whether or not to join, angering Eurosceptics.[35] When Tory Party Chairman, Brian Mawhinney, was understood to have briefed against him, Clarke declared: "tell your kids to get their scooters off my lawn" – an allusion to Harold Wilson's rebuke of Trades Union leader Hugh Scanlon in the late 1960s.
Role as a backbencher
After the Conservatives entered opposition in 1997, Clarke contested the leadership of the Party for the first time. In
Clarke contested the party leadership for a second time in 2001. Despite opinion polls again showing he was the most popular Conservative politician with the British public,[13] he lost in a final round among the rank-and-file membership, a new procedure introduced by Hague, to a much less experienced, but strongly Eurosceptic rival, Iain Duncan Smith. This loss, by a margin of 62% to 38%, was attributed to the former Chancellor's strong pro-European views being increasingly out-of-step with the party members' Euroscepticism.[13] His campaign was managed by Andrew Tyrie.
Clarke opposed the
Clarke became known as "an
In 2006, he described Cameron's plans for a British Bill of Rights as "
Expenses scandal
On 12 May 2009,
Return to the frontbench
In 2009, Clarke became Shadow Business Secretary in opposition to the then-
Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary
On 12 May 2010, Clarke's appointment as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in the Coalition Government formed between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.[43] James Macintyre, political editor of Prospect, argued that in this ministerial role he had instigated a process of radical reform.[44]
In June 2010, Clarke signalled an end to short prison sentences after warning it was "virtually impossible" to rehabilitate any inmate in less than 12 months. In his first major speech after taking office, Clarke indicated a major shift in penal policy by saying prison was not effective in many cases. This could result in more offenders being handed community sentences. Clarke, who described the current prison population of 85,000 as "astonishing", received immediate criticism from some colleagues in a Party renowned for its tough stance on law and order. He signalled that fathers who fail to pay child maintenance, disqualified drivers and criminals fighting asylum refusals could be among the first to benefit and should not be sent to prison.[45]
Clarke announced in February 2011 that the Government intended to scrutinise the relationship between the European Court of Human Rights and national parliaments.[46]
In May 2011, controversy related to Clarke's reported views on sentencing for those convicted of rape resurfaced after an interview on the radio station
In 2011 and 2012, Clarke faced criticism for his Justice and Security Bill, in particular those aspects of it that allow secret trials when "national security" is at stake.[49][50] The Economist stated: "the origins of the proposed legislation lie in civil cases brought by former Guantánamo detainees, the best-known of whom was Binyam Mohamed, alleging that government intelligence and security agencies (MI6 and MI5) were complicit in their rendition and torture".[51][52] Prominent civil liberties and human rights campaigners argued: "the worst excesses of the war on terror have been revealed by open courts and a free media. Yet the Justice and Security Green Paper seeks to place Government above the law and would undermine such crucial scrutiny."[53]
Minister without Portfolio
Following the 2012 Cabinet reshuffle, Clarke was moved from Justice Secretary to Minister without Portfolio. It was also announced that he would assume the role of roving Trade Envoy with responsibility for promoting British business and trade interests abroad, a position which he enjoyed.
In the 2014 Cabinet reshuffle, after more than 20 years serving as a Minister, it was announced that Clarke had stepped down from government, to return to the backbenches.
Return to the backbench
Clarke was opposed to
During the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election Clarke was interviewed by Sky News on 5 July 2016 and made negative comments to Sir Malcolm Rifkind,[59] about the "fiasco" (leadership contest) and about three of the candidates. In a widely circulated video clip, he referred to Theresa May as a "bloody difficult woman", joked that Michael Gove, who was "wild", would "go to war with at least three countries at once" and characterised some of the utterances of Andrea Leadsom as "extremely stupid". Clarke added that Gove "did us all a favour by getting rid of Boris. The idea of Boris as prime minister is ridiculous."[60]
In February 2017, following the death of
In December 2017, he voted along with fellow Conservative
Clarke endorsed Rory Stewart during the 2019 Conservative leadership election.[62]
In September 2019, after Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost a number of key votes in the House of Commons, Clarke stated that it would be "not inconceivable" for him to become Prime Minister leading a government of national unity in order to revoke Article 50 and prevent Brexit. Other politicians who were suggested for such a role at the time included Harriet Harman, his female counterpart as Mother of the House of Commons. Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson supported the proposal, though Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Opposition, both dismissed the suggestion.[63] As it turned out, a vote of no-confidence was not in fact tabled against Boris Johnson's government and no such government of national unity was formed or took office.
Sitting as an Independent
On 3 September 2019, Clarke joined 20 other rebel Conservative MPs to vote against the Conservative government of Boris Johnson.[64] The rebel MPs voted against a Conservative motion which subsequently failed. Effectively, they helped block Johnson's no-deal Brexit plan from proceeding on 31 October.[65] Subsequently, all 21 were advised that they had lost the Conservative whip[66][67] and were expelled as Conservative MPs, requiring them to sit as independents.[68][69] If they decided to run for re-election in a future election, the party would block their selection as Conservative candidates, though Clarke opted not to do so.[65]
On the edition of 3 September of
In his capacity as Father of the House, Clarke presided over the House of Commons during the
Peerage
In early 2020, Clarke was nominated for a peerage by Boris Johnson.[73] On 4 September he was created Baron Clarke of Nottingham, of West Bridgford in the County of Nottinghamshire.[74] Taking the Conservative whip, he made his maiden speech on 28 September 2020.[75]
Corporate, media and other work
Whilst serving as a backbench MP and as a Shadow Cabinet Minister, Clarke accepted several non-executive directorships:
- Deputy Chairman and a director of British American Tobacco (BAT) (1998–2007), for which Clarke faced allegations relating to activities of BAT in lobbying the developing world to reject stronger health warnings on cigarette packets and evidence the corporation had been involved in smuggling and targeting children with advertisements.[76][77]
- Deputy Chairman of Alliance Unichem[citation needed]
- Chairman (non-executive) of Unichem[citation needed]
- Director of Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust[citation needed]
- Member from June 2007 of the Advisory Board of Centaurus Capital, a London-based hedge fund management company.[78]
- Clarke is a member of the advisory board of Agcapita Farmland Investment Partnership,[79] a Canadian farmland investment fund.
- Director (non-executive) of Independent News and Media (UK).[80]
- Participant at the annual meeting of the
Also as a backbencher, Clarke declared engagement in non-political media work:
- presented several series of BBC Radio Four, including one on his namesake, bebop drummer Kenny Clarke
- wrote a monthly column for Financial Mail on Sunday (£10,001–15,000)
- wrote a weekly commentary or interview for Bloomberg Television (£10,001–15,000)
- undertook occasional lecturing, on a self-employed basis.[86]
Personal life
In 1964, Clarke married Gillian Edwards, a Cambridge contemporary.[87] They had a son and a daughter.[13] She died of cancer in July 2015.[88]
Clarke's enthusiasm for cigars, jazz and motor racing is well known,[13] and he enjoys birdwatching as well as reading political history. He is also popularly recognised for his affection for suede Hush Puppies, a brand of shoe, which became a "trademark" of his during his early ministerial days.[89] His autobiography denies he wore Hush Puppies and says these suede shoes were hand-made by Crockett & Jones.[90]
Clarke is a sports enthusiast, being a supporter of both local football clubs
He attended the
Lord Clarke of Nottingham is a lover of real ale and has been an active member of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).[95] His memoir, Kind of Blue, was published in October 2016.[96]
Honours
- Made a Queen's Counsel(QC) in 1980.
- Made an Honorary Bencher of Gray's Inn in 1989. Made a Full Bencher in 1997.[97]
- Sworn in as a Member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in 1985. This gave him the style "The Right Honourable".
- Made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 2014.
- Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the University of Nottingham in 1989.[98]
- He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Chartered Institute of Taxation in 2016.[99]
- Honorary degree of Doctor of the University (DUniv) from University of Derby in November 2017.[100]
- He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.[101]
Notes
- ^ Parliamentary Secretary (1979–81)
References
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BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw said Mr Clarke had, in any case, not been correct to suggest consensual sex with a 15-year-old would be rape – under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 children under 13 are presumed to be incapable of giving their consent to sex. Sex with a 15-year-old would amount to another sexual offence which carries a lower penalty.
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Mr Clarke subsequently explained that he and Mr Blair considered that they were attending the conference as representatives of the Government and the Opposition respectively, and stated that "I was quite confident that I was at the time meeting the rules applying to Ministers, and it did not occur to me that the new rules concerning registration could apply to this visit".
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Ken Clarke, Peter Mandelson and former mandarin Lord Kerr were also among the select group of British figures at the gathering of politicians and tycoons.
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The group, which includes luminaries such as Henry Kissinger and former UK chancellor Kenneth Clarke, does not even have a website.
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5–8 June 2008, to Chantilly, Virginia, USA, to attend Bilderberg Conference. Hotel accommodation paid for by the conference sponsors. (I paid my travel costs.) (Registered 12 June 2008)
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- ISBN 978-1-5098-3724-3.
- ^ Rozenberg, Joshua (13 May 2010). "Ken Clarke is a good fit for the Ministry of Justice". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ "Honorary Graduates of the University of Nottingham" (PDF). University of Nottingham. October 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 January 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ "Ex-chancellor awarded honorary fellowship by CIoT". Chartered Institute of Taxation. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ "Kenneth Clarke – Honorands". University of Derby. November 2017. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ "The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke CH QC MP". Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
Books
- Kenneth Clarke, ISBN 1-509-83719-1
- ISBN 0-241-13691-1
External links
- Kenneth Clarke official Conservative Party profile
- Debrett's People of Today
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Kenneth Clarke collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- In full: Ken Clarke says Dominic Cummings should 'vanish' and warns BBC needs protecting
- Articles
- Smoke and mirrors, George Monbiot, The Guardian, 23 August 2005.
- Conservative Leadership Watch BBC News, 30 September 2005.