Ken clarke biography

British politician life peer (born 1940)

This article is about the politician. For the art historian, see Kenneth Clark. For other people, see Kenneth Clark (disambiguation).

Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham (born 2 July 1940) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Rushcliffe from 1970 to 2019, serving as Father of the House of Commons between 2017 and 2019.

Clarke served in the Cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1987 to 1988, Health Secretary from 1988 to 1990, and Education Secretary from 1990 to 1992. He held two of the Great Offices of State as Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

President of the Tory Reform Group since 1997, Clarke is a one-nation conservative who identifies with economically and socially liberal views. He 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.

Under the coalition government of David Cameron, he returned to the Cabinet as Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor from 2010 to 2012 and Minister without Portfolio from 2012 to 2014. He was also the United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion from 2010 to 2014.

The Conservative Whip was withdrawn from him in September 2019 because he and 20 other MPs voted with the Opposition on a motion; for the remainder of his time in Parliament he sat as an independent, though still on the government benches. He stood down as an MP at the 2019 general election and was thereafter made a Conservative life peer in the House of Lords in 2020.

Clarke is President of the Conservative Europe Group, Co-Pr

Kenneth Clarke KC served as Conservative MP for Rushcliffe from June 1970 to December 2019.

Education

He was educated at Nottingham High School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge.

Political career

Kenneth was Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from May 2010 to September 2012. Other positions include:

• Secretary of State for Health 1988 to 1990
• Secretary of State for Education and Science 1990 to 1992
• Home Secretary 1992 to 1993
• Chancellor of the Exchequer 1993 to 1997
• Minister without Portfolio 2012 to 2014

In opposition, he served as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills.

A former barrister-at-law, Kenneth was called to the bar by Gray’s Inn in 1963 and became a QC in 1980. He has practised on the Midland Circuit, based in Birmingham.

Personal life

Kenneth is married with 2 children.

British art historian, museum director, and documentary TV presenter (1903–1983)

This article is about the art historian. For the politician, see Kenneth Clarke. For other people, see Kenneth Clark (disambiguation).

Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissance art, most of all that of Leonardo da Vinci. After running two art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television, presenting a succession of programmes on the arts from the 1950s to the 1970s, the largest and best known being the Civilisation series in 1969.

The son of rich parents, Clark was introduced to the arts at an early age. Among his early influences were the writings of John Ruskin, which instilled in him the belief that everyone should have access to great art. After coming under the influence of the art experts Bernard Berenson and Roger Fry, Clark was appointed director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford aged twenty-seven, and three years later he was put in charge of Britain's National Gallery. His twelve years there saw the gallery transformed to make it accessible and inviting

Kenneth Clarke, one of the UK’s best-known and popular politicians, has spent over 20 years serving as a Cabinet Minister under Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron. Having served in two of the four Great Offices of State – Chancellor of the Exchequer (1993-1997) and Home Secretary – Ken offers exceptional insights into the current political and economic climate. Ken has also served as Secretary of State for Health (1988-1990) and Secretary of State for Education (1990-1992).

The late eighties and early nineties saw Ken rise up the political ranks. During his time as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Britain recovered from recession and was set on a course of economic growth with low inflation. In addition, the budget deficit was halved and interest rates and unemployment fell

Ken was appointed head of the Democracy Task Force by David Cameron in 2005. The review ran for 18 months and looked at ways to re-engage people in the democratic process and repair trust in politics by restoring Cabinet Government and accountability to the House of Commons.

In 2009, he rejoined the Conservative Party front bench team as Shadow Business Secretary. In 2010, Ken was appointed as Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor in the coalition government, a position he held until September 2012.

Following the Government reshuffle in 2012 until July 2014 he served as Minister without Portfolio, working to develop key trade relationships on the Prime Minister’s behalf. He had an advisory brief on the economy and also sat on the National Security Council. He returned to the back benches in July 2014.

During his time as a backbencher Ken broadened his business interests, taking on various roles in business world. He was Deputy Chairman of British American Tobacco Plc and non-executive Chairman of Alliance Unichem Plc, a pan-European pharmaceutical wholesale company. He was also a Director at Foreign