John Buttifant Sewel, Baron Sewel (),

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 15 January 1946), is a British politician, life peer, and former academic. He was the Chairman of Committees of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

, its deputy speaker. He is also a former senior vice principal of the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

and former parliamentary

Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

. He was made a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

minister in the

Scottish Office The Scottish Office was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland. Following the es ...

department of the Blair Government as

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland is a junior ministerial post (of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State rank) in the Government of the United Kingdom, supporting the Secretary of State for Scotland. The post is also kno ...

in 1997, where he assisted

Donald Dewar Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000. He previously served as ...

in steering through the

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

that led to the creation of the Scottish Parliament. His name is given to the

Sewel motion A legislative consent motion (LCM, also known as a Sewel motion in Scotland) is a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion passed by either the Scottish Parliament, Senedd, or Northern Ireland Assembly, in which it consents that the Parliament ...

, parliamentary device passed by the Scottish Parliament, in which it agrees that the

United Kingdom parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremac ...

may pass legislation on a devolved issue extending to Scotland, over which the Scottish Parliament has regular legislative authority. He left ministerial office in 1999 upon the new Parliament taking over the majority of the

's functions. Sewel left the House of Lords in 2015 after photos of him doing drugs with prositutes emerged.

Early life

Sewel was born on 15 January 1946. He was educated at Hanson Boys' Grammar School and Durham University (BA, 1967) before taking his MSc degree at

University College of Wales, Swansea Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

in 1970, and a PhD from the

in 1977.

Academic career

Sewel joined the

as a research fellow in the Department of Politics in 1969. During the next three decades he worked in the Departments of Education and Political Economy and also the Regional Centre for the Study of Economic and Social Policy, where he was appointed to his chair. In 1988 he became the dean of the then Faculty of Economic & Social Sciences. Subsequently, in 1995, he was appointed vice-principal and dean of the faculty of Social Sciences & Law. Sewel returned to the University of Aberdeen to resume his role as vice-principal in 1999 and was subsequently senior vice-principal from 2001 to 2004.

Political career

Sewel was first elected to political office as an

Aberdeen District Council The Politics of Aberdeen, Scotland have changed significantly in recent years. In 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, Grampian Regional Council and Aberdeen District Council were dissolved, creating the new unitary Aberdeen ...

lor in 1974, serving as council leader from 1977 to 1980, and also as president of the

Convention of Scottish Local Authorities The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) is the national association of Scottish councils and acts as an employers' association for its 32 member authorities. History Formed in 1975, COSLA exists to promote and protect the intere ...

from 1982 to 1984. Sewel was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

1984 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1984 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countri ...

. Later, he was an influential member of the

Scottish Constitutional Convention The Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for Scottish devolution. It is credited as having paved the way for the establishment of t ...

from 1994 to 1995. On 10 January 1996 he was created Baron Sewel, of Gilcomstoun in the District of the City of Aberdeen, and became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the

from 1997 to 1999, serving as the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Fisheries. As such he piloted the

Scotland Act 1998 The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government (then Scottish Executive). It was o ...

through Parliament and helped draft the plans for the new Scottish Parliament. At the first election to the Parliament, Sewel was a candidate as third on the Labour Party list for North East Scotland, but was not elected. As an active member of the

, Sewel chaired the European Union Select Committee in Agriculture, the Environment and Fisheries and was a member of the

NATO Parliamentary Assembly Founded in 1955, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Alliance. Its current President is Gerald E. Connolly from the United States, elected in 2019. Its curre ...

. His interests include enlargement of the European Union and of NATO, constitutional change and rural development. Sewel was elected Chairman of Committees on 9 May 2012, whereupon he gave up the Labour whip and sat as a non-affiliated member in the House of Lords.

Scandal and resignation

He resigned as Chairman of Committees on 26 July 2015 after '' The Sun'' released hidden camera footage seemingly showing him snorting white powder (widely reported in the media to be

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

) at a party with prostitutes. In the same video he described David Cameron as the "most superficial ndfacile Prime Minister there has ever been". On the following day he was granted a

leave of absence The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...

from the Lords, and on 28 July 2015 he formally resigned from the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sewel, John Sewel, Baron 1946 births Living people Labour Party (UK) life peers Academics of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of University College, Durham Alumni of Swansea University Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Place of birth missing (living people) Political sex scandals in the United Kingdom Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Life peers created by Elizabeth II