John Anderson Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, PC, DL (born 4 August 1939) is a British

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

who was a Labour

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for over 30 years, serving for

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It i ...

from 1970 to 1983 and then Copeland until the 2005 general election, and had served in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

Background

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

in 1970, and the renamed Copeland constituency, which was the same as Whitehaven, in 1983.

Early life

He was educated at Jarrow Grammar School (now

Jarrow School Jarrow School is a coeducational secondary school located in Jarrow, South Tyneside, England admitting pupils aged 11 to 16. History It was opened on 6 January 2003 following the merger of Springfield Comprehensive and Hedworthfield Comprehens ...

) in the same class as Doug McAvoy, future general secretary of the National Union of Teachers. Cunningham then studied at

Bede College Bede Sixth Form College is a further education sixth-form college, based in Billingham, County Durham, England. The college provides A-Level, vocational courses, apprenticeship training, and higher education courses. It is a TASS accredited col ...

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_cha ...

, receiving a BSc in

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

in 1962, and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

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. He was a district councillor for

Chester-le-Street Chester-le-Street (), also known as Chester, is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England, around north of Durham and also close to Sunderland and Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located on the River Wear, which runs out to sea ...

Rural & Parish Council, prior to becoming an MP and continued to live in the Garden Farm area of the town, bringing up his family there.

Political career

Cunningham joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1983, and was appointed to be a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Cumbria in 1991. He 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 Labour Party.

Minister

After the Labour landslide victory at the 1997 general election, he became

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was a United Kingdom cabinet position, responsible for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The post was originally named President of the Board of Agriculture and was created in 1889. ...

and embarked on a modernisation programme for the Ministry. He worked to secure the lifting of the EU ban on the export of UK beef, and achieved some limited success on this.

Cabinet

He was shifted in 1998 to

Minister for the Cabinet Office The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The minister is responsible for the work and policies of the Cabinet Office, and since February 2022, reports to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lanc ...

and

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

. 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. He also led the government's work on modernising government, and chaired the Ministerial Committee on genetically modified foods and crops.

Backbenches

He retired from the Cabinet in 1999, and returned to the backbenches. He stood down from Parliament at the 2005 general election. Having represented the

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

that includes

Sellafield Sellafield is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste processing and storage and nuclear decommissioning. Former activities included nuc ...

, the UK's largest nuclear facility for 35 years; he is a strong proponent of

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

and is the founding European legislative Chairman of th
Transatlantic Nuclear Energy Forum

House of Lords

In the 2005 Dissolution Honours, he was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks. Peerages include: Australia * Australian peers Belgium * Be ...

as Baron Cunningham of Felling, ''of Felling in the County of Tyne and Wear''. 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 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 Westminst ...

Lobbyist allegations

Cunningham was suspended from the Labour Party whip, and the party, in June 2013 pending an investigation over claims he had offered to work for lobbyists.Rajeev Sya
"Labour peers stripped of party whip over lobbying allegations"
, guardian.co.uk, 2 June 2013 He was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing by the parliamentary standards authorities, and had the Labour whip restored.

Expenses claimed in the House of Lords

Research conducted by the

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

newspaper revealed that Lord Cunningham claimed a total of £75,122 for 154 days’ attendance in 2017–2018. This was the largest claim for attendance and travel expenses out of all the sitting members in the House of Lords. £23,108 of the £75,122 was claimed for air travel expenses.

Personal life

He lives with his wife near Stocksfield, in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

and is an avid

fly fisherman Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly differ ...

. In 2016 Cunningham was awarded with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star.https://www.mofa.go.jp/files/000152721.pdf

References

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

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Jack 1939 births Living people Agriculture ministers of the United Kingdom Alumni of the College of the Venerable Bede, Durham Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster Councillors in County Durham Cumbria MPs Deputy Lieutenants of Cumbria Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Prime Minister UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 People from Stocksfield Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class Life peers created by Elizabeth II