| David Clark, Baron Clark Of Windermere |
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Information AboutDavid Clark, Baron Clark Of Windermere |
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Clarke was Member Of Parliament for Colne Valley from 1970 to 1974 , and for South Shields in Tyne And Wear from 1979 to 2001 . He was popular among fellow Labour MPs and was regularly elected to the Shadow Cabinet while the party was in opposition. He held a number of Shadow portfolios, including Defence and Agriculture. Although Clark was not a strong supporter of New Labour , his long-standing position as an elected member of Labour's Frontbench team meant Tony Blair was obliged to appoint him to the Cabinet when the party was elected to government in April 1997 . He held the office of Chancellor Of The Duchy Of Lancaster , with responsibility for producing a White Paper on Freedom Of Information . Blair attempted to sack Clarke and another "old Labour" figure, Gavin Strang , in October 1997, in order to bring two Liberal Democrats into the Cabinet. Although this plan was thwarted by John Prescott and others, Clark survived only until July 1998 when his opposition to moves to water-down the freedom of information legislation from what had been proposed by Labour in Opposition led to his sacking. Two years later, in 2000 he stood for the job of Speaker Of The House Of Commons in succession to Betty Boothroyd but was unsuccessful. He stood down from Parliament in 2001 , making way in his South Shields constituency for the New Labour rising star David Miliband . He was given a Life Peerage , and now sits in the House Of Lords . He also served for a time as chairman of the Forestry Commission. EXTERNAL LINKS
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