Jack Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling

For other people named Jack Cunningham, see Jack Cunningham (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable The Lord Cunningham of Felling PC DL
Minister for the Cabinet Office Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office 27 July 1998 – 11 October 1999
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	David Clark
Succeeded by	Mo Mowlam
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
In office 2 May 1997 – 27 July 1998
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Douglas Hogg
Succeeded by	Nick Brown
Shadow Foreign Secretary
In office 24 July 1992 – 20 October 1994
Leader	John Smith
Preceded by	Gerald Kaufman
Succeeded by	Robin Cook
Member of Parliament for Copeland
In office 9 June 1983 – 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Constituency Created
Succeeded by	Jamie Reed
Member of Parliament for Whitehaven
In office 18 June 1970 – 9 June 1983
Preceded by	Joseph Bede Symonds
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	4 August 1939 (1939-08-04) Durham, United Kingdom
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	College of St Hild and St Bede

John "Jack" Anderson Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, PC, DL (born 4 August 1939) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Copeland from 1983 to 2005, and previously served in the Cabinet.

Early life

He was educated at Jarrow Grammar School (now Jarrow School) in the same class as Doug McAvoy, future general secretary of the National Union of Teachers. Cunningham then studied at Bede College of the University of Durham, receiving a BSc in Chemistry in 1962, and a PhD in 1967. He stayed at the university to become a research fellow from 1966-8, whilst working as an officer for the General and Municipal Workers' Union.

His father was Andrew Cunningham, leader of the Labour Party in the Northern Region in the 1970s, who was disgraced in the 1974 Poulson scandal. Dr Cunningham was first elected as member for Whitehaven in 1970; and the renamed Copeland constituency, which was the same constituency as Whitehaven, in 1983.

He was a district councillor for Chester le Street Rural & Parish Council, prior to becoming an MP and continued to live in Garden Farm area of the town, bringing up his family there.

Shadow Cabinet and in government

Cunningham joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1983, and ran the Labour Party's general election campaign in 1992. He also appeared on many television Election programmes as one of the main spokesmen of the Party.

After the 1997 general election, he became Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and embarked on a modernisation programme for the Ministry, loosening its hitherto fierce loyalty to the producer interest, and emphasizing its duty to the consumer.^{[citation needed]} He worked hard to secure the lifting of the European Union ban on the export of UK beef, and achieved some limited success on this.^{[citation needed]} He also paved the way for the creation of the disputably independent Food Standards Agency.^{[citation needed]}

He was promoted in 1998 to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The media dubbed him cabinet enforcer, claiming that his role was effectively to sell the Government and its policies to the public and the media.^{[citation needed]} Although there was some truth in this,^{[citation needed]} he also led the government's work on modernising government, and chaired the Ministerial Committee on genetically-modified foods and crops.

He retired from the Cabinet in 1999, and became an influential^{[citation needed]} backbencher. He stood down from parliament at the 2005 general election.

Having represented the parliamentary constituency that includes Sellafield, the UK's largest nuclear facility, for 35 years, he is a strong proponent of nuclear power and is the founding European legislative chairman of the Transatlantic Nuclear Energy Forum.

Personal life

On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a life peer, and he was created Baron Cunningham of Felling, of Felling in the County of Tyne and Wear, on 27 June. He had previously been Rt Hon Dr Jack Cunningham, so following his enoblement he uses the style, Rt Hon Lord Cunningham of Felling, PC DL PhD.

Lord Cunningham of Felling is still active in politics and chairs an all-party parliamentary committee to review the powers of the House of Lords.

He lives with his wife near Stocksfield, in Northumberland and is an avid fly fisherman. He married Maureen Appleby in 1964 in Durham. They have one son and two daughters.

References

• Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 11 October 2005

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Jack Cunningham

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Joseph Bede Symonds	Member of Parliament for Whitehaven 1970–1983	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Copeland 1983–2005	Succeeded by Jamie Reed
Political offices
Preceded by Gerald Kaufman	Shadow Foreign Secretary 1992–1994	Succeeded by Robin Cook
Preceded by Douglas Hogg	Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1997–1998	Succeeded by Nick Brown
Preceded by David Clark	Minister for the Cabinet Office 1998–1999	Succeeded by Mo Mowlam
	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1998–1999