David Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David George Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere[1] PC DL (born 19 October 1939 in Castle Douglas, Scotland) is a British Labour politician and author. He joined the UK Labour Party in 1959 and the Co-operative Party two years later.
He attended Bowness Elementary School and Windermere Grammar School in Cumbria.
After leaving school, he worked as a forester and then as a Laboratory Assistant in a textile mill before becoming a student teacher in 1959. He attended the University of Manchester as a mature student from 1960, gaining a BA in Economics, then later an MSc. He was President of the Students' Union. In 1978 he gained a PhD from the University of Sheffield.
He was a Lecturer in Government and Administration at the University of Salford from 1965-70 and a Tutor at University of Manchester from 1967-1970. He was elected Member of Parliament for Colne Valley from 1970 to 1974. After losing in the February 1974 General Election, be became a Senior Lecturer in Politics at Huddersfield Polytechnic (now the University of Huddersfield) until 1979 when he returned to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for South Shields in Tyne and Wear, a seat he held until he retired at the 2001 general election.
Clark was regularly elected to the Shadow Cabinet while the Labour Party was in opposition. He held a number of Shadow portfolios, including Agriculture Fisheries & Food (1972-74), Defence (1980-81), Environment (1981-87), Food Agricultural and Rural Affairs (1987-92), and Defence (1992-97). Although Clark was not a strong supporter of New Labour, he did support Tony Blair's bid for the party leadership, and continued as Shadow Defence Secretary following Blair's appointment.
Clark's long-standing position as a member of Labour's frontbench team meant Tony Blair was obliged to appoint him to the Cabinet when the party was elected to government in May 1997. However, he was not given a senior or middle-ranking position, and instead was given the office of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with responsibility for producing a White Paper on Freedom of Information which was published in July 1998.
He opposed moves to water-down the freedom of information proposals from what had been proposed by Labour in Opposition, and this led to his sacking. At the time, he said that he believed his sacking was also because of his insistence on living in the North-East and "missing out on the London cocktail circuit". Additionally, Blair's sacking of Clark and another "old Labour" figure, Gavin Strang, was part of a plan by Blair to bring two Liberal Democrats into the Cabinet, a plan thwarted by John Prescott and others (though it is highly likely the Liberal Democrats would not have accepted the plan anyway had it become public).
Heavily involved and interested in Bosnia, Clark was forced to apologise for not declaring a 1993 meeting with Radovan Karadžić in the Register of Members' Interests, as he "thought it had been a United Nations-funded trip".
Two years later, on 23 October 2000, he stood for the job of Speaker of the House of Commons in succession to Betty Boothroyd but was unsuccessful (192 votes in favour, 257 against) and his backbench colleague, Michael Martin MP was elected.
Clark sought re-selection by the South Shields Labour Party in order to contest the 2001 General Election in the town. However, control of his constituency Party had swung in favour of a vocal group of critics who feared Clark was insincere and had intentions to stand down when the General Election was called, thus enabling the Labour Party's National Executive Committee to parachute a favoured candidate into the Constituency, historically a safe Labour seat. During the re-selection contest Clark vigorously denied the claims and made public statements to the Gazette newspaper advising he had every intention of contesting the General Election[citation needed].
He faced an uphill struggle to win the support of local Party members who supported opening up the selection procedure to allow other candidates to be considered for the nomination. However, Clark had the crucial support of Regional Trade Union barons (who controlled a "block vote" of union Branch votes) after he gave personal assurances that he would stand at the General Election. He was eventually re-selected by a divided Constituency Party.
When Prime Minister Blair announced the date of the General Election in 2001, Clark immediately stood down and plunged the local Party in crisis. The Labour Party NEC moved swiftly, preventing local candidates being considered and bounced new Labour rising star David Miliband into the seat.
Within weeks of the Labour Party winning the 2001 General Election, Clark was given a life peerage as Baron Clark of Windermere, of Windermere in the County of Cumbria and now sits in the House of Lords. He was appointed Chairman of the Forestry Commission. He was heavily criticised[citation needed] for not taking the title of the town which gave him a parliamentary career for over 20 years, and instead opting for Windermere, the town where he grew up and where he was to return to live.
Lord Clark of Windermere's ongoing political interests include Bosnia, open spaces, hunting and bloodsports (to which he is opposed), defence, and the environment.
He was awarded Freedom of the Borough of South Shields in February 1999, and is a long-standing fan of Carlisle United Football Club, of which he is a Director. He is a Deputy Lieutenant of Cumbria. Clark was Chair of the Atlantic Council of the UK (1998-2003), and has been Leader of the North Atlantic Assembly since 2001, having been a member since 1980. He was a member of the Executive of the National Trust from 1980 until 1994. He is Chair of the Forestry Commission; a non-executive director of the Homeowners Friendly Society, the Thales Group, and the UK Friendly Insurance Services. He is a trustee of the Vindolanda Trust, the History of Parliament Trust, and the Gravetye Trust, and a patron of the UK Defence Forum.
He married Christine Kirkby, a nurse, in 1970 and they have one daughter, Catherine. He lives in Windermere, and lists his recreations as gardening, fell walking, reading, and watching football.
[edit] References
- ^ House of Lords (2001-07-02). Minutes of Proceedings. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
[edit] External links
- Rt. Hon. Dr. David Clark Home page
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Richard Wainwright |
Member of Parliament for Colne Valley 1970–February 1974 |
Succeeded by Richard Wainwright |
| Preceded by Arthur Blenkinsop |
Member of Parliament for South Shields 1979–2001 |
Succeeded by David Miliband |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Roger Freeman |
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1997–1998 |
Succeeded by Jack Cunningham |
