Annabel denham sister
John Denham (politician)
For other politicians of this name, see John Denham (disambiguation).
British Labour politician
John Yorke DenhamFRSA[2] (born 15 July ) is an English politician who served as Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills from to and Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from to A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Southampton Itchen from to [1]
Denham served in government under Prime MinisterTony Blair from to , as a Parliamentary under-secretary of state from to and a Minister of State from to He resigned from government over the Iraq War in , and subsequently became Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee.
Denham returned to government in as a Member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Cabinet, which he served in until Labour's election defeat in
He was briefly Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in , and appointed by opposition leaderEd Miliband as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills later in the same year.
Denham announced in that he would be standing down from Parliament at the next election, and held his final front bench position as Parliamentary private secretary to Miliband from to
Early life
John Denham was born in Seaton, Devon, and attended Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis, Dorset, and the University of Southampton, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, and served as president of the students' union in the academic year –[1]
After leaving education in he became an advice worker at the Energy Advice Agency in Durham, before becoming a transport campaigner with Friends of the Earth in He was Head of Youth Affairs at the British Council from until , and was responsible for public education and advocacy for War on Want from to He subsequently worked for Christian Aid, Oxfam and other development agencies until his election to Westminster.
John denham mp biography of christopher News Ticker. He was regarded by the leadership as a safe pair of hands, trusted with some of the most sensitive briefs in government and known as one of the most committed modernisers in the government. His public defence of tuition fees led to his life membership of the students' union of Southampton University being revoked. His ministerial career came to an end, however, when, along with Robin Cook and Lord Hunt, and resigned from the government over the decision to go to war in Iraq. Mr Denham has, like many current Labour MPs, travelled a long road to his current ideological position.Councillor
Prior to being elected as an MP, Denham served as a local councillor, initially as a member of the Hampshire County Council in , where he remained until , when he was elected as a councillor on Southampton City Council, on which he served until and was the chairman of the city's Housing Committee.
He was selected to contest the Southampton Itchen seat at the general election following the defection to the Social Democratic Party of the sitting Labour MP Bob Mitchell. The election proved to be a close-run affair, with Denham coming in third place, Mitchell in second, and the victor was the ConservativeChristopher Chope who gained the seat with a majority of 5,
Denham again contested the seat at the general election, he overtook Mitchell into second place but was still behind Chope, who held his seat with a majority of 6,
Member of Parliament
Denham took the seat at the third attempt at the general election, when he defeated Chope by just votes and remained an MP for 23 years (since Chope has been MP for the safe Conservative seat of Christchurch, Dorset.).
Mitchell did not fight the election this time.
John denham mp biography of christopher brown A member of the Conservative Party , he was first elected in for Southampton Itchen , but lost this seat in to Labour. He returned to Parliament in and has remained an MP ever since. Chope was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in Chope was elected as a councillor on the Wandsworth London Borough Council in and became the council leader in ; he left the council on his first election to Parliament in Chope was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Peter Brooke , the Minister of State at the Treasury in , before being promoted by Margaret Thatcher to serve in her government as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment later in the same year, where he was responsible for steering through the Council Tax legislation, the replacement for the disastrous and derided Poll tax , which was withdrawn after a massive popular revolt.Denham made his maiden speech on 20 May , reminding people that the Pilgrim Fathers left from Southampton, and not Plymouth as is widely thought, on their historic voyage to North America.[3]
Denham has held the following positions:
In government
Denham became a member of the Environment Select committee in , and was promoted to the opposition frontbench by Tony Blair in He was a Shadow Minister for Social Security from to , responsible for pensions and long-term care.[4] Following the general election he entered the Blair government as the Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Social Security, being promoted within the department to the rank of Minister of State in Following the promotion to the cabinet of Alan Milburn, Denham moved to the Department of Health in
Resignation over Iraq War
Following the general election he became a Minister of State at the Home Office, until he resigned in March over the Iraq War.[5]
After his resignation, Denham was appointed in July as chairman of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee.
Despite speculation following the general election that he would return as a member of the Government, he did not do so, although in the post-election reshuffle there were reports that he was offered – and accepted – the cabinet post of Chief Secretary to the Treasury, before being told that the post had been assigned instead to Des Browne.
Though regarded as a Blairite, Denham was a regular critic of the Blair administration as chair of the Home Affairs committee.[citation needed]
Return to Government
Following Brown's installation as Prime Minister in June , Denham was named to take over the new post of Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills.[6] In September , he announced funding for students taking second degrees would be re-allocated to allow more students to take first degrees: adult and continuing education institutions such as the Open University, Birkbeck, University of London, and lifelong learning departments throughout the country, have voiced angry protest at the proposals.[7][8][9]
During Denham's tenure as Secretary of State, he also announced an extension of maintenance grants to students from households earning up to £60, a year.[10] The changes mean that an additional 50, students would be entitled to a full grant and an additional , students would be entitled to a partial grant.
As part of the Cabinet reshuffle on 5 June , Denham was appointed to the role of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
John denham mp biography of christopher columbus Denham served in government under Prime Minister Tony Blair from to , as a Parliamentary under-secretary of state from to and a Minister of State from to Denham returned to government in as a Member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Cabinet , which he served in until Labour's election defeat in Denham announced in that he would be standing down from Parliament at the next election, and held his final front bench position as Parliamentary private secretary to Miliband from to John Denham was born in Seaton, Devon , and attended Woodroffe School in Lyme Regis , Dorset, and the University of Southampton , where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry , and served as president of the students' union in the academic year — After leaving education in he became an advice worker at the Energy Advice Agency in Durham , before becoming a transport campaigner with Friends of the Earth inHe replaced Hazel Blears who had resigned from the post on 3 June
On 7 October , Denham announced that he would be standing down at the general election.[11]
In June , Denham said that Labour knew as early as that the immigration estimates they had relied on were "vastly wrong".[12]
He was seen as a government loyalist and University of Southampton Students' Union had revoked his lifetime membership for his support of tuition fees.
Post-parliamentary career
Denham is Chair of the Southern Policy Centre,[13] which he co-founded with Professor Francis Davis, [14] as a think tank responding to challenges and opportunities for southern England with specialisms in open data research and new forms of public participation in politics.[15]
Denham is director of the English Labour Network and a Professorial Fellow on English Identity and Politics at Southampton University.
Honours
Denham was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom in , giving him the honorific title "The Right Honourable" for life. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, giving him the Post Nominal Letters "FRSA".
Personal life
He married Ruth Eleanor Dixon[1] and they have two children; they have now divorced.
He has another child born in [citation needed]
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Denham stated that he was a secular humanist, although he also said he learnt a lot from his Church of England upbringing.[16]