SHAUN WOODWARD

'Shaun Anthony Woodward' MP (born 26 October 1958, Bristol) is a British politician, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Labour Member of Parliament for St Helens South.

Contents

Education

Political career

Ministerial appointments

Personal life

Works

External links

Education

Woodward was educated at Bristol Grammar School and the University of Cambridge.

Political career

He was selected as Douglas Hurd's successor as Conservative candidate for the safe seat of Witney at the 1997 election, having previously been a senior official of the party. Elected with a large majority, he was a front-bench spokesman on London for the Conservative opposition under William Hague until 1999, when he was sacked for supporting the repeal of Section 28, a regulation which prevented the promotion of homosexual lifestyles in school — seen by its supporters as an important safeguard for young people and by opponents as anti-gay legislation.
Woodward then controversially left the Conservative party to move to the ruling Labour Party. In the June 2001 general election he decided not to contest his Witney seat under the Labour banner and instead found a safe Labour seat in St Helens South. His successor in Witney was David Cameron, who subsequently became leader of the Conservatives. When news of Woodward's intention to stand reached St Helens, a strong left-wing challenge was put forward in an attempt to deny the former Conservative the safe Labour seat. Neil Thompson of the Socialist Alliance and Michael Perry of the Socialist Labour Party both contested the St Helens South seat and received a total of 12% of the vote between them. Woodward won the seat with a much reduced 49% of the vote.^[1] As a Labour MP, Woodward served on the Joint Committee on Human Rights, and was a prominent supporter of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
In May 2005, Woodward was re-elected in St Helens South receiving 54% of the vote and his majority increased. However, the Liberal Democrats candidate, Brian Spencer, saw his party's vote increase from 23% in 2001 to 28%. Michael Perry of the Socialist Labour Party contested the seat again and received just under two percent of the vote.^[1]

Ministerial appointments

After the 2005 election he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office.
In the May 2006 reshuffle, Tony Blair appointed Woodward Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport with responsibilities for the digital handover for TV. On 28 June 2007, in his first cabinet, newly appointed Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed Woodward as the Northern Ireland Secretary, replacing Peter Hain. Woodward will not receive a Ministerial salary.

Personal life

He is married to Camilla Sainsbury, daughter of the former Conservative MP Tim Sainsbury of the wealthy supermarket Sainsbury family, and was said in 2001 to be the only Labour MP with a butler.

Works

★ ''Death by Television'' by Esther Rantzen, Shaun Woodward (Century, 1999) ISBN 0-7126-2543-7

★ ''Drugwatch: Just Say No!'' by Sarah Caplin, Shaun Woodward (Corgi, 1986) ISBN 0-552-12820-1

★ ''Ben: Story of Ben Hardwick'' by Esther Rantzen, Shaun Woodward (Penguin Character Books, 1985) ISBN 0-563-20331-5
★ ''"That's Life" Survey on Tranquillisers'' by Ron Lacey, Shaun Woodward (BBC, 1985) ISBN 0-563-20294-7

External links

★ Shaun Woodward MP official site

★ Northern Ireland Office - Shaun Woodward MP biography and portfolio

★ Joint Committee on Human Rights

★ Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Shaun Woodward MP

★ TheyWorkForYou.com - Shaun Woodward MP

★ The Public Whip - Shaun Woodward MP voting record

★ BBC News - Shaun Woodward profile 24 March, 2005