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Kenneth Clarke

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For other people with the same name, see Kenneth Clark (disambiguation) and Ken Clarke (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable
Ken Clarke
CH QC MP
Father of the House of Commons
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 February 2017
Preceded bySir Gerald Kaufman
Minister without Portfolio
In office
4 September 2012 – 14 July 2014
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byBaroness Warsi
Succeeded byRobert Halfon (2015)
Secretary of State for Justice
Lord Chancellor
In office
12 May 2010 – 4 September 2012
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Attorney GeneralDominic Grieve
Preceded byJack Straw
Succeeded byChris Grayling
Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
In office
19 January 2009 – 11 May 2010
LeaderDavid Cameron
Preceded byAlan Duncan (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform)
Succeeded byPat McFadden
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
2 May 1997 – 11 June 1997
LeaderJohn Major
Preceded byGordon Brown
Succeeded byPeter Lilley
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office
27 May 1993 – 2 May 1997
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Chief SecretaryMichael Portillo
Jonathan Aitken
William Waldegrave
Preceded byNorman Lamont
Succeeded byGordon Brown
Home Secretary
In office
10 April 1992 – 27 May 1993
Prime MinisterJohn Major
Preceded byKenneth Baker
Succeeded byMichael Howard
Secretary of State for Education and Science
In office
2 November 1990 – 10 April 1992
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
John Major
Preceded byJohn MacGregor
Succeeded byJohn Patten (Education)
Secretary of State for Health
In office
25 July 1988 – 2 November 1990
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byJohn Moore (Social Services)
Succeeded byWilliam Waldegrave
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
13 June 1987 – 25 July 1988
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byNorman Tebbit
Succeeded byTony Newton
Paymaster General
In office
2 September 1985 – 13 June 1987
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Preceded byJohn Gummer
Succeeded byPeter Brooke
Minister of State for Employment
In office
2 September 1985 – 13 June 1987
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Sec. of StateThe Lord Young of Graffham
Preceded byPeter Morrison
Succeeded byJohn Cope
Minister of state for Health
In office
5 March 1982 – 2 September 1985
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Sec. of StateNorman Fowler
Preceded byGerard Vaughan
Succeeded byBarney Hayhoe
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
In office
5 January 1981 – 5 March 1982
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
Sec. of StateNorman Fowler
David Howell
Preceded byPosition created
Succeeded byLynda Chalker
Parliamentary Secretary for Transport
In office
7 May 1979 – 5 January 1981
Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher
MinisterNorman Fowler
Preceded byJohn Gilbert (Minister for Transport)
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
8 January 1974 – 4 March 1974
Prime MinisterEdward Heath
ChancellorAnthony Barber
Preceded byHugh Rossi
Succeeded byChange of government
Member of Parliament
for Rushcliffe
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 June 1970
Preceded byAntony Gardner
Majority8,010 (13.7%)
Personal details
Born
Kenneth Harry Clarke

(1940-07-02) 2 July 1940 (age 84)
West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Gillian Edwards
​
​
(m. 1964; died 2015)​
Children2
Alma materGonville and Caius College, Cambridge

Kenneth Harry Clarke CH QC (born 2 July 1940) is a British Conservative politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe since 1970. He is currently the Father of the House.

Clarke, described by the press as a "Big Beast" of British politics, has served in the Cabinet as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Education Secretary, Health Secretary and Minister without Portfolio. He has been the President of the Tory Reform Group since 1997. Clarke identifies with economically and socially liberal views.[1]

Clarke contested the Conservative Party leadership three times – in 1997, 2001 and 2005 – being defeated each time. Opinion polls indicated he was more popular with the general public than with his Party, whose generally Eurosceptic stance did not chime with his pro-European views. Notably, he is President of the Conservative Europe Group, Co-President of the pro-EU body British Influence and Vice-President of the European Movement UK.[2]

Clarke was one of only five Ministers (Tony Newton, Malcolm Rifkind, Patrick Mayhew and Lynda Chalker are the others) to serve throughout the whole 18 years of the Governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, which represents the longest uninterrupted Ministerial service in Britain since Lord Palmerston in the early 19th century. He returned to government in 2010 and his total time as a minister is the fifth-longest in the modern era; having spent over 20 years serving under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron.[3]

Early life

Clarke was born in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, and was christened with the same name as his father, Kenneth Clarke, a Nottinghamshire mining electrician and later a watchmaker and jeweller.[4] He attended Nottingham High School[5] before going to read for a law degree at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he graduated with an upper second honours degree. Clarke initially held Labour sympathies, his grandfather having been a Communist, but while at Cambridge he joined the Conservative Party.

As Chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association (CUCA), Clarke invited former British Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley to speak for two years in succession, prompting some Jewish students (including his future successor at the Home Office, Michael Howard) to resign from CUCA in protest.[6] Howard then defeated Clarke in one election for the presidency of the Cambridge Union Society, but Clarke subsequently became President of the Cambridge Union a year later, being elected on 6 March 1963 by a majority of 56 votes. Clarke opposed the admission of women to the Union, and is quoted as saying upon his election, "The fact that Oxford has admitted them does not impress me at all. Cambridge should wait a year to see what happens before any decision is taken on admitting them."[7]

In an early-1990s documentary, journalist Michael Cockerell played to Clarke some tape recordings of Clarke speaking at the Cambridge Union as a young man, and he displayed amusement at hearing his then-stereotypical upper class accent. Clarke is deemed one of the Cambridge Mafia, a group of prominent Conservative politicians who were educated at Cambridge in the 1960s. After leaving Cambridge, Clarke was called to the bar in 1963 at Gray's Inn, and "took silk" (was promoted to Queen's Counsel) in 1980.[8]

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, at the age of 29, he won the East Midlands constituency of Rushcliffe, south of Nottingham, from Labour MP Tony Gardner. Along with Dennis Skinner (Labour–Bolsover), who has also served continually since the 1970 general election, he is one of the two most senior sitting MPs and is currently Father of the House.

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.[9][10]

Ministerial positions

Clarke first served in the government of Margaret Thatcher as Parliamentary Secretary for Transport (1979–81) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (1981–82), and then Minister of State for Health (1982–85).

He joined the Cabinet as Paymaster-General and Employment Minister (1985–87) (his Secretary of State, Lord Young, sat in the Lords), and served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister of the DTI (1987–88) with responsibility for Inner Cities. While in that position, Clarke announced the sale to British Aerospace of the Rover Group, a new name for British Leyland, which had been nationalised in 1975 by the Government of Harold Wilson.[11]

Despite being an ardent pro-tobacco advocate, he was appointed the first Secretary of State for Health when the department was created out of the former Department of Health and Social Security in 1988, in which office he introduced the controversial "internal market" concept to the NHS.[12] Many years later Clarke claimed that he had persuaded Thatcher to introduce internal competition in the NHS as an alternative to her preference for introducing a system of compulsory health insurance, which he opposed.[13] Just over two years later he was appointed Secretary of State for Education and Science in the final weeks of Thatcher's Government, following Norman Tebbit's unwillingness to return to Cabinet after the resignation of Sir Geoffrey Howe. Clarke was the first Cabinet Minister to advise Thatcher to resign after her victory in the first round of the November 1990 leadership contest was less than the 15% winning margin required to prevent a second ballot; she referred to him in her memoirs as a candid friend: "his manner was robust in the brutalist style he has cultivated: the candid friend".[14]

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 Secretary of State for the Home Department 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.

Contaminated Blood Scandal

As Minister of State for Health during the early 1980s, Clarke has been the subject of criticism over the decades for his involvement in the Contaminated Blood Scandal.[15][16][17] It was the largest loss-of-life disaster in Britain since the 1950s and claimed the lives of thousands of Haemophiliacs.[18] Theresa May ordered a Public Inquiry into the Contaminated Blood Scandal in July 2017[19] and some 3 weeks later it was reported that Ken Clarke had retracted claims from his autobiography that the victims had received compensation.[20]

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".[21]

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.[12]

Differences of opinion within the Cabinet on European policy, on which Clarke was one of the leading pro-Europeans, complicated his tenure as Chancellor. Whereas other ministers such as Malcolm Rifkind wished to imply that British Euro membership was unlikely, Clarke fought successfully to maintain the possibility that Britain might join a single currency under a Conservative Government, but conceded that such a move could only take place with the mandate of a referendum. When Tory Party Chairman, Brian Mawhinney, was understood to have briefed against him on one occasion, Clarke memorably 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.

Backbencher

After the Conservatives entered Opposition in 1997, Clarke contested the leadership of the Party for the first time. In 1997, the electorate being solely Tory Members of Parliament, he topped the poll in the first and second rounds. In the third and final round he formed an alliance with Eurosceptic John Redwood, who would have become Shadow Chancellor and Clarke's deputy, were he to have won the contest. However, Thatcher endorsed Clarke's rival William Hague, who proceeded to win the election comfortably. The contest was criticised for not involving the rank-and-file members of the Party, where surveys showed Clarke to be more popular. Clarke rejected the offer from Hague of a Shadow Cabinet role, opting instead to return to the backbenches.

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,[12] 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.[12] His campaign was managed by Andrew Tyrie.

Clarke opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After choosing not to stand for the leadership after Duncan Smith departed in 2003 in the interests of party unity, he returned to fight the 2005 leadership election. He still retained huge popularity among voters, with 40% of the public believing he would be the best leader.[22] He was accused by Norman Tebbit of being "lazy" whilst leadership rival Sir Malcolm Rifkind suggested that Clarke's pro-European views could have divided the Conservative Party had Clarke won.[23] In the event, Clarke was eliminated in the first round of voting by Conservative MPs. Eventual winner David Cameron appointed Clarke to head a Democracy Task Force as part of his extensive 18-month policy review in December 2005, exploring issues such as the reform of the House of Lords and party funding. Clarke is President of the Tory Reform Group, a liberal, pro-European ginger group within the Conservative Party.

In 2006, he described Cameron's plans for a British Bill of Rights as "xenophobic and legal nonsense".[24]

Expenses scandal

Main article: United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal

On 12 May 2009, The Daily Telegraph reported that Clarke had "flipped" his Council Tax. He had told the Parliamentary authorities that his main home was in the Rushcliffe constituency, enabling him to claim a second-home allowance on his London residence, leaving the taxpayer to foot the bill for Council Tax due on that property. However, he told Rushcliffe Borough Council in Nottinghamshire that he spent so little time at his constituency address that his wife Gillian should qualify for a 25% Council Tax (single person's) discount, saving the former Chancellor around £650 per year. Land Registry records showed that Clarke no longer had a mortgage on his Nottinghamshire home where he has lived since 1987. Instead he held a mortgage on his London property, which was being charged to the taxpayer at £480 per month.[25]

Return to the front bench

In 2009, Clarke became Shadow Business Secretary in opposition to then-Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson. David Cameron described Clarke as about the only one able to challenge Mandelson and Brown's economic credibility. Two days later it was revealed that Clarke had warned in a speech a month earlier that President Barack Obama could see David Cameron as a "right-wing nationalist" if the Conservatives maintained Eurosceptic policies and that Obama would "start looking at whoever is in Germany or France if we start being isolationist".[26] The Financial Times said "Clarke has in effect agreed to disagree with the Tories' official Eurosceptic line".[27]

Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary

Clarke as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor

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.[28] James Macintyre, political editor of Prospect, argued that in this ministerial role he had instigated a process of radical reform.[29]

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.[30]

Clarke announced in February 2011 that the Government intended to scrutinise the relationship between the European Court of Human Rights and national parliaments.[31]

In May 2011, controversy related to Clarke's reported views on rape resurfaced after an interview on the radio station BBC 5 Live, where he discussed a proposal to further reduce the sentences of criminals, including rapists, who pleaded guilty pre-trial.[32]

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.[33][34] 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".[35][36] 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."[37]

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.

Insignia of Companion of Honour

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.[38] Clarke was honoured with appointment as a Companion of Honour, upon the Prime Minister's recommendation, in July 2014.[39]

With 24 years of government service, Ken Clarke is considered to have the fifth longest ministerial career in modern British politics.[40]

2016: EU referendum and change of Conservative leader

Clarke was opposed to Brexit during the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union, and opposed the holding of the referendum in the first place.[41] He was the sole Conservative MP to vote against the triggering of Article 50.[42]

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[43] 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."[44]

In February 2017, following the death of Sir Gerald Kaufman, Clarke became Father of the House of Commons. He was re-elected as an MP in the 2017 general election.

In December 2017 he voted along with fellow Conservative Dominic Grieve and nine other Conservative MPs against the government, and in favour of guaranteeing Parliament a "meaningful vote" on any Brexit deal Theresa May agrees with the European Union.[45]

Corporate and other work

Whilst serving as a backbench MP and as a Shadow Cabinet Minister, Clarke accepted a number of 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 that that corporation had been involved in smuggling and targeting children with advertisements.[46][47]
  • Deputy Chairman of Alliance Unichem
  • Chairman (non-executive) of Unichem
  • Director of Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust
  • Member from June 2007 of the Advisory Board of Centaurus Capital, a London-based hedge fund management company.[48]
  • Clarke is a member of the advisory board of Agcapita Farmland Investment Partnership,[49] a Canadian farmland investment fund.
  • Director (non-executive) of Independent News and Media (UK).[50]
  • Participant at the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Group in 1993, 1998-2000, 2003, 2004, 2006–08, 2012 and 2013.[51][52][53][54][55]

Media work

Also as a backbencher, Clarke declared engagement in non-political media work:

Personal life

In 1964, Clarke married Gillian Edwards, a Cambridge contemporary.[57] They had a son and a daughter.[12] Edwards died of cancer in July 2015.[58]

Clarke's enthusiasm for cigars, jazz, and motor racing is well known,[12] 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.[59] His autobiography denies he wore Hush Puppies and says these suede shoes were hand-made by Crockett & Jones.[60]

Clarke is a sports enthusiast, being a supporter of both local clubs Notts County[61][62] and Nottingham Forest, who offered him a chair[63] and a former President of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. He is President of both Radcliffe Olympic and the Radcliffe on Trent Male Voice Choir, and a keen follower of Formula One motorsport. He was involved with tobacco giant British American Tobacco's Formula One team British American Racing (BAR) and has attended Grands Prix in support of the BAR team. BAR was sold to Honda in 2005. He also appeared on the podium of the 2012 British Grand Prix to present the first-place trophy to Mark Webber.

He attended the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final and jokingly claims to have been influential in persuading the linesman, Tofiq Bahramov, to award a goal to Geoff Hurst when the England striker had seen his shot hit the crossbar of opponents West Germany, leaving doubt as to whether the ball had crossed the line. Clarke's position in the Wembley crowd was right behind the linesman at the time, and he shouted at the official to award a goal.[64]

Clarke is a lover of real ale and has been an active member of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).[65] His Kind of Blue: A Political Memoir was published in October 2016.[66]

Styles of address

  • 1940–1970: Mr Kenneth Harry Clarke
  • 1970–1980: Mr Kenneth Harry Clarke MP
  • 1980–1985: Mr Kenneth Harry Clarke QC MP
  • 1985–2014: The Rt Hon Kenneth Harry Clarke QC MP
  • 2014–present: The Rt Hon Kenneth Harry Clarke CH QC MP

References

  1. ^ Stadler, Liliane (6 December 2016). "Ken Clarke's Kind of Blue". OxPol. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Structure of the European Movement UK".
  3. ^ Parkinson, Justin (13 June 2013). "Chasing Churchill: Ken Clarke climbs ministerial long-service chart". BBC News. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  4. ^ "The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP - GOV.UK". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  5. ^ "My School Days: Ken Clarke". 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Anthony, Andrew (27 March 2005). "Howard's way". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  7. ^ "News in Brief". The Times. No. 55643. London. 7 March 1963. col B, p. 5. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
  8. ^ "Kenneth Clarke". Conservative Party.
  9. ^ "Artwork - Portrait of Kenneth Clarke MP".
  10. ^ Murphy, Joe (13 January 2014). "MPs splash out £250,000 of public money on vanity portraits". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  11. ^ "Rover Group (Privatisation) (Hansard, 29 March 1988)".
  12. ^ a b c d e f "Contender: Kenneth Clarke". BBC News. 2 August 2005. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  13. ^ Rawnsley, Andrew (19 July 2014). "Kenneth Clarke: I had a lot of views, but they didn't coincide with No 10's". The Observer. London. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  14. ^ Thatcher, Margaret (1993). The Downing Street Years. New York: HarperCollins. p. 914. ISBN 0-06-017056-5.
  15. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (3 March 2018). "Britain's contaminated blood scandal: 'I need them to admit they killed our son'". the Guardian.
  16. ^ "Contaminated blood 'cover-up' revealed in Cabinet papers". Sky News.
  17. ^ Johnson, Diana. "Contaminated Blood - Hansard Online". hansard.parliament.uk.
  18. ^ May, Theresa. "PM statement on contaminated blood inquiry: 11 July 2017 - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk.
  19. ^ "Home - Infected Blood Inquiry". Infected Blood Inquiry.
  20. ^ Harpin, Lee (22 July 2017). "Victims of contaminated blood scandal weren't given Tory compensation". mirror.
  21. ^ Macintyre, Donald; Brown, Colin (27 June 1995). "PM assails 'malcontent' Redwood". The Independent. London.
  22. ^ "Clarke is voter favourite — poll". BBC News. 5 September 2005. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  23. ^ "Tories round on candidate Clarke". BBC News. 4 September 2005. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  24. ^ "Clarke slams Cameron rights plan". BBC News. 27 June 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  25. ^ Rayner, Gordon (12 May 2009). "MPs expenses: Ken Clarke's council tax 'flip'". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  26. ^ Winnett, Robert (21 January 2009). "Ken Clarke warns Barack Obama could see David Cameron as right wing nationalist". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  27. ^ "Interactive graphics – A Conservative Who's Who". Financial Times. London. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  28. ^ "Election 2010 – Live coverage – General Election 2010". BBC News. May 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  29. ^ Macintyre, James (2010). "Public service innovators". Ethos. Hook, Hants: Serco. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ Whitehead, Tom (30 June 2010). "David Cameron insists short prison sentences to stay". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 14 July 2010.
  31. ^ Stratton, Allegra (21 February 2011). "Kenneth Clarke offers hope to Tory critics of human rights court". The Guardian. London. p. 8.
  32. ^ "In full: Ken Clarke interview on rape sentencing". BBC News. 18 May 2011.
  33. ^ Rozenberg, Joshua (16 November 2011). "The justice and security green paper is an attack on liberty". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  34. ^ "Ken Clarke's justice bill passed despite 'attacks'". BBC News. 2 November 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  35. ^ "A question of balance". The Economist. London. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  36. ^ Cobain, Ian (9 April 2012). "Special report: Rendition ordeal that raises new questions about secret trials". The Guardian. London. p. 1. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  37. ^ Chakrabarti, Shami; Davis, David; Kennedy, Helena; Macdonald, Ken; Mercer, Nicholas; Rose, Dinah (6 March 2012). "Secrets and scrutiny (Letter)". The Guardian. London. p. 35. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  38. ^ "Ken Clarke given trade envoy role". BBC News. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  39. ^ "Kenneth Clarke appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour". Prime Minister's Office. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  40. ^ Parkinson, Justin (13 June 2013). "Chasing Churchill: Ken Clarke climbs ministerial long-service chart". BBC News.
  41. ^ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. London. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  42. ^ Sparrow, Andrew (7 December 2016). "MPs vote to demand Brexit plan and say article 50 should be triggered by end March". The Guardian. London.
  43. ^ "Ken Clarke caught on camera ridiculing Conservative leadership candidates - but Sky News face backlash after releasing footage". The Telegraph. London. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  44. ^ Mason, Rowena; Asthana, Anushka (5 July 2016). "Ken Clarke caught on camera ridiculing Conservative leadership candidates". The Guardian. London.
  45. ^ Austin, Henry (13 December 2017). "Brexit vote: The 11 Tory rebel MPs who defeated the Government". The Independent. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  46. ^ British American Tobacco.[dead link]
  47. ^ Monbiot, George (23 August 2005). "BAT role makes Clarke unfit for office". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 January 2009.
  48. ^ "Hedge fund Centaurus appoints Ken Clarke as adviser". Reuters. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  49. ^ "Agcapita Partners LP". Farmland Investment Partnership. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
  50. ^ "Kenneth Clarke MP". TheyWorkForYou.
  51. ^ "Memorandum submitted by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards — Complaint against Mr Kenneth Clarke". United Kingdom Parliament. 11 July 1997. 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".
  52. ^ "Register of Members' Interests". United Kingdom Parliament.
  53. ^ "His secret's out: how Georgie met Kissinger". London Evening Standard. 15 August 2008. p. 14. 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.
  54. ^ Duffy, Jonathan (3 June 2004). "Bilderberg: The ultimate conspiracy theory". BBC News. Retrieved 24 September 2008. The group, which includes luminaries such as Henry Kissinger and former UK chancellor Kenneth Clarke, does not even have a website.
  55. ^ "Kenneth Clarke: Full register of members' interests". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2010. 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) {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  56. ^ "Register of Members' Interests".
  57. ^ "Is there more to Ken the Bloke?". The Daily Telegraph. London. 23 July 2001. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  58. ^ "Gillian Clarke: Historian, political activist and quilt-maker who stood at Ken Clarke's right hand for more than half a century". The Independent. London. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  59. ^ Naughton, Philippe (14 May 2010). "Ken Clarke sheds Hush Puppies for new job". The Times. London. (subscription required)
  60. ^ Kind of Blue, Ken Clarke 2016
  61. ^ The Notts County Miscellany by David Clayton, The History Press, 17 March 2017
  62. ^ Chandhoke, Harcharan (4 June 2001). "Kenneth Clarke: I was there when . . ". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  63. ^ "Football: Forest offer chair to Kenneth Clarke". 23 June 1997. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  64. ^ Chandhoke, Harcharan (4 June 2001). "I was there when... England won the World Cup". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  65. ^ Hall, Sarah (6 August 2002). "Campaign to include women in real ale round". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 September 2008.
  66. ^ Clarke, Ken (6 October 2016). Kind of Blue: A Political Memoir. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-5098-3724-3.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Rushcliffe
1970–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Paymaster General
1985–1987 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1987–1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Health
1988–1990 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Education and Science
1990–1992 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Home Secretary
1992–1993 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the Exchequer
1993–1997 		Succeeded by
Second Lord of the Treasury
1993–1997
Preceded by Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
2009–2010 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Justice
2010–2012 		Succeeded by
Lord Chancellor
2010–2012
Honorary titles
Preceded by Father of the House of Commons
2017–present 		Incumbent
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