Will Straw

Will Straw
Personal details
Born 1980 (age 35–36)
Lambeth, London, England
Political party Labour
Alma mater New College, Oxford
Columbia University

William David John Straw CBE (born 1980) is a British policy researcher and Labour Party politician.[1] He worked as a civil servant, founded the political blog Left Foot Forward and is currently an associate director of the think-tank Institute for Public Policy Research, specialising in climate change, energy and transport.[2] In the lead up to 2016's referendum on European Union membership, he was the executive director of Britain Stronger In Europe, the all-party umbrella organisation that unsuccessfully fought for the United Kingdom to 'Remain' a member of the European Union. [3]

He is the son of prominent Labour party politician, Jack Straw, and was the unsuccessful 2015 Labour party parliamentary candidate for the Rossendale and Darwen constituency, located next to his father's in Lancashire.[4]

Early life and education

Straw was born in Lambeth in 1980. His parents are Alice Perkins and Jack Straw. He attended the comprehensive Pimlico School.[5] In 1997 aged 17, he was caught trying to sell £10 of cannabis after a friend was paid £2,000 by the Daily Mirror to introduce him to an undercover reporter posing as an acquaintance.[6] The story caused some embarrassment for his father, who was Home Secretary at the time.

He went to Oxford University where he read Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE)[7] and was elected President of the Junior Common Room of New College and the Oxford University Student Union in 2001. In 2001, he and several other OUSU campaigners protested against tuition fees on the steps of Oxford's Bodleian Library by throwing off most of their clothes to reveal gold-painted torsos.[8] After Oxford, he read for a master's degree in public administration as a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University.[4]

Policy research and journalism

Straw worked for a year as a senior policy adviser on enterprise and growth issues in HM Treasury under Gordon Brown.[2] In 2009, he founded the political blog Left Foot Forward,[9] which was set up professionally as a counter to right-wing media in the UK and was sponsored by a variety of individuals and institutions including Peter Kellner, Patrick Carter and the unions Connect and Unite. The blog grew to have about forty writers; Straw left it in 2010 to join the Institute for Public Policy Research.[10] In 2009, he was one of twelve governors removed by Lambeth Council amid concerns over financial management and poor teaching at Henry Fawcett Primary School in Kennington.[11]

Political ambitions

The "Nutters" performing in Bacup at Easter in 2014

Straw was the parliamentary candidate for the Labour party for the constituency of Rossendale and Darwen in the 2015 general election, but lost to the Conservative incumbent Jake Berry.[12] Straw was one of 15 Labour candidates each given financial support of £10,000 by Lord Matthew Oakeshott the former Liberal Democrat in January 2015.[13]

In 2014, he posed with a local folk-dancing troupe, the Britannia Coco-nut Dancers. This generated some controversy because of their use of black-face makeup, which Straw defended as a traditional custom.[14]

Along with Euan Blair (son of former British prime minister Tony Blair), Stephen Kinnock (son of former Labour Leader Neil Kinnock) and Joe Dromey (son of Labour MPs Harriet Harman & Jack Dromey), Straw has been criticised for being a 'Red Prince', a term popularised by the blog Guido Fawkes,[15] which refers to the son of a Labour politician who goes into politics.[16]

Straw was the executive director of Britain Stronger in Europe, the group that campaigned for the UK to remain in the European Union ahead of the 2016 referendum.[17]

Personal life

Straw lives in Kennington, London and Darwen, Lancashire.[18] He is married to Claire, an American, and has a baby son called Matthew.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Will, Straw. "About Me". Will Straw for Rossendale and Darwen. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Will Straw profile". IPPR. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Will Straw to help lead all-party campaign to stay in EU". The Guardian. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 "How Will Straw hopes to follow his Labour minister father Jack Straw", The Guardian, 2 September 2013
  5. ↑ David, Cohen (19 January 2010). "Will Straw: I'm deeply angry with Blair for taking us to war and for the shoddy way he betrayed my father's loyalty". Evening Standard. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Roy, Greenslade (21 March 2005). "The story behind the Straw splash". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.standard.co.uk/news/baby-labour-6708602.html
  8. ↑ Ed Howker (21 Feb 2004), "Degrees of fame", Daily Telegraph
  9. ↑ Rachel Goddard-Rebstein (2 Nov 2012), "This House Believes That Oxford Admissions are Still Unfair", The Oxford Student
  10. ↑ Andrew Chadwick (2013), The Hybrid Media System: Politics and Power, Oxford University Press, pp. 169–172, ISBN 978-0199759484
  11. ↑ http://www.standard.co.uk/news/jack-straws-son-sacking-as-school-governor-traumatic-6705994.html
  12. ↑ "Rossendale & Darwen parliamentary constituency - Election 2015 - BBC News". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
  13. ↑ "Former Lib Dem Lord Oakeshott donates £300,000 to Labour candidates". New Statesman. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  14. ↑ Matthew Holehouse (21 Apr 2014), "Racist? No, our black-face dance is a proud tradition", Sunday Telegraph
  15. ↑ "'Red Princes' Gets Box Office Treatment". Guido Fawkes' blog. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  16. ↑ McBain, Sophie, "What Labour's Red Princes tell us about Britain", New Statesman, retrieved 23 October 2014
  17. ↑ Robert Colvile (2015-12-22). "Britain Stronger in Europe: A grassroots army gets to work". Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  18. ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated". Rossendale Borough Council. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  19. ↑ "Will Straw profile". Labour Party. Retrieved 13 April 2015.

External links

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