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.^[1] He is the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Blackburn.

The Right Honourable Jack Straw MP
Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 11 May 2010 – 7 October 2010
Leader	Harriet Harman
Preceded by	William Hague (Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet)
Succeeded by	Harriet Harman
Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Shadow Lord Chancellor
In office 11 May 2010 – 7 October 2010
Leader	Harriet Harman Ed Miliband
Preceded by	Dominic Grieve
Succeeded by	Sadiq Khan
Secretary of State for Justice Lord Chancellor
In office 28 June 2007 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	The Lord Falconer of Thoroton
Succeeded by	Kenneth Clarke
Leader of the House of Commons Lord Privy Seal
In office 5 May 2006 – 28 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
Home Secretary
In office 2 May 1997 – 8 June 2001
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Michael Howard
Succeeded by	David Blunkett
Shadow Home Secretary
In office 20 October 1994 – 2 May 1997
Leader	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Tony Blair
Succeeded by	Michael Howard
Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment
In office 24 July 1992 – 20 October 1994
Leader	John Smith
Preceded by	Bryan Gould
Succeeded by	Frank Dobson
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 (Education)
Member of Parliament for Blackburn
In office 3 May 1979 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	Barbara Castle
Succeeded by	Kate Hollern
Majority	9,856 (21.7%)
Personal details
Born	John Whitaker Straw (1946-08-03) 3 August 1946 (age 79) Buckhurst Hill, Essex, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Anthea Weston (1968–1977) Alice Perkins (1978–present)
Children	Daughter (deceased), son, daughter
Alma mater	University of Leeds Inns of Court

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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.^[4][5]

On 10 November 1978 he married Alice Perkins, a senior civil servant.^[6] They have two adult children, William and Charlotte.^[7]

He supports his local football club Blackburn Rovers.^[8] He was made an Honorary Vice President of Blackburn Rovers in 1998 by Jack Walker.^[9]

Straw has tinnitus.^[10]