Jack Straw - Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

Straw was selected to stand for Parliament in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 1977, after Barbara Castle (the incumbent) decided not to seek re-election. He won the seat in 1979 and has held it since, also becoming honorary president of Blackburn Rovers. In the 1980s, he was an opposition spokesman on Treasury and economic affairs from 1980 to 1983, housing and local government from 1983 until promotion to the Shadow Cabinet in 1987.

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