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John Anderson "Jack" Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, PC, DL (born 4 August 1939) is a British Labour politician and was Member of Parliament for Copeland until 2005.
Education and family life
He was educated at Jarrow Grammar School (now Jarrow School) with Doug McAvoy, then studied at Bede College at the University of Durham, receiving a BSc in Chemistry in 1962, and a PhD 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 married in 1964.
His father was Andrew Cunningham, leader of Durham County Council in the 1970s, who was disgraced in the 1974 Poulson scandal. Dr Cunningham was first elected as member for Whitehaven in 1970; and the renamed Copeland constituency, which was the same constituency as Whitehaven, in 1983.
Government career
He ran the Labour Party's general election campaign in 1992, and joined the Shadow Cabinet in that year.
After the 1997 general election, he became Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and embarked on a modernisation programme for the Ministry, loosening its hitherto fierce loyalty to the producer interest, and emphasising its duty to the consumer. He worked hard to secure the lifting of the European Union ban on the export of UK beef, and achieved some limited success on this. He also paved the way for the creation of the independent Food Standards Agency.
He was promoted in 1998 to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. 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. Although there was some truth in this, he also led the government's work on modernising government, and chaired the Ministerial Committee on genetically-modified foods and crops.
He retired from the Cabinet in 1999, and became an influential backbencher. He stood down from parliament at the 2005 general election.
Having represented the parliamentary constituency that includes Sellafield, the UK's largest nuclear facility, for 35 years, he is a strong proponent of nuclear power and is the founding European legislative chairman of the Transatlantic Nuclear Energy Forum.
Present day
On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a life peer, and he was created Baron Cunningham of Felling, of Felling in the County of Tyne and Wear, on 27 June. He had previously always been "Rt Hon Dr Jack Cunningham", so following his enoblement he uses the style, "Rt Hon Lord Cunningham of Felling, PC DL PhD".
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.
He lives with his wife near Stocksfield, in Northumberland and is an avid fly fisherman.
Reference
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