The Rt Hon. Charles Clarke

Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician. He has been Member of Parliament for Norwich South since 1997 and was Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006. Image File history File links Charles_Clarke. ... September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Labour Party has, since the early twentieth century, been the principal left wing political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... A politician is an individual involved in politics to the extent of holding or running for public office. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Norwich South is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ...

Background and early career

The son of Civil Service Permanent Secretary Sir Richard Clarke, Charles Clarke was born in London. He attended Highgate School where he was Head Boy. He then read Mathematics and Economics at King's College, Cambridge, where he also served as the President of the Cambridge Students' Union. He went on to become President of the National Union of Students from 1975 to 1977. In the United Kingdom, the non-political civil service head of a government department, as distinct from the political Secretary of State to whom he or she reports. ... Sir Richard William Barnes Clarke, KCB, OBE (13 August 1910 – 21 June 1975) was a British civil servant. ... Highgate School is a famous British private day school in Highgate, North London. ... Head Boy and Head Girl are terms commonly used in the British education system. ... Full name The Kings College of Our Lady and St Nicholas in Cambridge Motto Veritas Et Utilitas Truth and usefulness Named after Henry VI Previous names - Established 1441 Sister College(s) New College Provost Prof. ... The University of Cambridge (often called Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Cambridge University Students Union (CUSU) is the university-wide representative body for students at the University of Cambridge, England. ... The National Union of Students (NUS) is the main organisation claiming to represent students unions in the United Kingdom. ...

He was elected as a local councillor in the London Borough of Hackney, being Chair of its Housing Committee and Vice-Chair of economic development from 1980 to 1986. He worked as a researcher, and later Chief of Staff, for Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock from 1981 to 1992. His association with Kinnock and with the general election defeat in 1992 was expected to handicap him in his career, but after a period in the private sector - from 1992 to 1997, he was chief executive of Quality Public Affairs, a public affairs management consultancy - he emerged as a high flyer. Hackney Town Hall was built in the 1930s for the old Metropolitan Borough. ... The Labour Party has, since the early twentieth century, been the principal left wing political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... Rt. ... The UK general election, 1992 was held on April 9, 1992, and was the fourth victory in a row for the Conservatives. ...

MP and minister

Elected to the British House of Commons in the Labour landslide of 1997, Clarke served less than a year on the back benches before joining the government as a junior education minister in July 1998. He moved to the Home Office in 1999 and joined the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio and Party Chair after the 2001 general election. The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997. ... The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ... In the Politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is a formal body comprised of government officials chosen by the Prime Minister. ... A Minister without Portfolio is a government minister with no specific responsibilities. ... Party Chair is the title given to the Chairman of the governing political party of the UK. At the moment, the Labour party Chairman, Ian McCartney, is Party Chair as well as being the Cabinet position of Minister without Portfolio. ... Tony Blair William Hague Charles Kennedy The UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed the quiet landslide by the media. ...

He returned to Education as Secretary of State on 24 October 2002 after the resignation of Estelle Morris. As Education Secretary, he defended Oxbridge, encouraged the establishment of specialist secondary schools, and (allegedly) suggested that the state should not fund "unproductive" humanities research. His view of universities could be seen as either impressively bold or overly instrumental. In 2003, he boiled down the point of all higher education to one simple sentence when he announced: "Universities exist to enable the British economy and society to deal with the challenges posed by the increasingly rapid process of global change". He also oversaw the introduction of Bills to enable universities in the UK to charge top-up fees, despite a Labour manifesto commitment not to introduce such fees. In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. ... October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 68 days remaining. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... Estelle Morris, Baroness Morris of Yardley, PC (born 1952) is an English Labour politician and member of the House of Lords. ... Oxbridge is a portmanteau name for the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, the two oldest in the United Kingdom and the English-speaking universe. ... A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... Top-up fees (not their official name) are a new way of charging tuition to undergraduate and PGCE students who study at universities in the United Kingdom from the 2006-2007 academic year onwards. ...

In 2004 he became a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society to acknowledge its contribution to education and in memory of his father, who had been a statistician. The Royal Statistical Society is a learned society for statistics and a professional body for statisticians in the UK. Founded in 1834 as the Statistical Society of London, it became the Royal Statistical Society in 1887. ...

Home Secretary

Following the first resignation of David Blunkett on 15 December 2004, Clarke took over at the Home Office as Home Secretary, one of the most senior positions in the Cabinet. He has recently been at the centre of much controversy regarding his proposed plans for countering terrorism. Critics suggest that his reforms to the judicial system undermine centuries of British legal precedent dating back to the 1215 Magna Carta, particularly the right to a fair trial and trial by jury. Clarke ceased to be a Minister and returned to the government backbenches on Friday 5 May 2006. David Blunkett The Right Honourable David Blunkett (born June 6, 1947) is a British Labour Party politician and has been Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside since 1987. ... December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The modern concept of Small Office and Home Office or SoHo , or Small or Home Office deals with the category of business which can be from 1 to 10 workers. ... The Secretary of State for the Home Department (the Home Secretary) is the chief United Kingdom government minister responsible for law and order in England and Wales; his or her remit includes policing, the criminal justice system, the prison service, internal security, and matters of citizenship and immigration. ... // Events A certified copy of the Magna Carta June 15 - King John of England forced to put his seal to the Magna Carta, outlining the rights of landowning men (nobles and knights) and restricting the kings power. ... Magna Carta Magna Carta (Latin for Great Charter, literally Great Paper), also called Magna Carta Libertatum, was an English charter originally issued in 1215. ... The Right to a fair trial is an essential right in all countries respecting the rule of law. ... Trial by Jury is a comic Gilbert and Sullivan operetta in one act (the only single-act Savoy Opera). ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ...

During the 2005 UK Presidency of the European Union, Clarke pressed other member states to pass a directive to require communications data to be stored for law enforcement purposes. The directive was criticised as infringing civil liberties and privacy, and critics also noted that the directive had been approved very quickly.

Clarke married Carol Pearson in 1984. They have two sons and live in Norwich. Norwich (pronounced variously Norritch, Norridge) is a city in East Anglia, in Eastern England, and the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. ...

Clarke speaks Cuban Spanish (a legacy of his student links with Cuba), French, and German.

Foreign prisoners scandal

On 25 April 2006 it emerged that 1,023 foreign prisoners had been freed without being considered for deportation. Among the offenders, five had been convicted of committing sex offences on children, seven had served time for other sex offences, 57 for violent offences and two for manslaughter. There were also 41 burglars, 20 drug importers, 54 convicted of assault and 27 of indecent assault. Former Home Secretary David Blunkett commented that “Heads should roll” over the scandal, despite the fact that many of the releases occurred during his period as Home Secretary (see [1]). April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Home Office later revealed that of those, 288 were released from prison between August 2005 and March 2006 - suggesting the problem continued after it had been raised with the government. The National Audit Office told ministers last July that preparations to remove foreign criminals from the UK should begin "much earlier", and not be left until the end of their prison sentences. Clarke said: "It is a massive issue and it's true to say, with the vast growth of foreign national prisoners, we took our eye off the ball. "The first priority at this moment is to get the situation under control - that is what I'm focusing on. "We don't know exactly where everybody is ... I know where about 100 of those 1,000 now are, and we are going through the most urgent cases" (see[2]).

It has subsequently emerged that some of those released then committed further crimes in Britain (see [3]).

Out of Government

The foreign prisoners scandal led many to call for Clarke's resignation, not only from the opposition; Clarke reportedly offered to resign, but Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to accept. However, in the wake of a poor Labour performance in the local council elections of 4 May 2006, Clarke was removed from his position in a Cabinet reshuffle the following day, to be replaced by Defence Secretary John Reid. Having turned down the offer of other positions by Blair, Clarke is now a backbencher. Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service, and MP for Sedgefield. ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rt Hon. ... A backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislature who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition. ...

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Charles Clarke MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Charles Clarke MP
• BBC News - Charles Clarke profile 17 October, 2002
• Charles Clarke takes a leading role in promoting animal protection.
• The Very Model of a Modern Labour Minister - a musical tribute to Charles Clarke and his ID cards bill.