John Hutton (politician)

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<tr style="text-align: center;"> <th colspan="2">Secretary of State for Work and Pensions</th> </tr><tr> <th style="border-bottom: none; text-align: center;" colspan="2">In office</th> </tr><tr> <td style="border-top: none; text-align: center;" colspan="2">November 2, 2005 – present</td> </tr><tr> <th>Preceded by</th><td>David Blunkett</td> </tr><tr> <th>Succeeded by</th><td>Incumbent</td> </tr><tr> <th>Constituency</th> <td>Barrow and Furness</td> </tr><tr> <th>Majority</th> <td>6,037 (16.5%)</td> </tr><tr> <th>Political party</th> <td>Labour</td> </tr>

The Rt Hon John Hutton
Born	6 May, 1955

For other persons named John Hutton, see John Hutton (disambiguation).

John Matthew Patrick Hutton (born 6 May 1955, London) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is Labour Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness in Cumbria and the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

John Hutton was educated at Westcliff High School for Boys and Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a Senior Law Lecturer at the University of Northumbria before his election as MP.

Mr Hutton first stood for election in the Penrith and the Borders seat in 1987. Two years later, he also failed to be elected as an MEP for the Cumbria and North Lancashire region. His election to the Barrow and Furness seat in the 1992 UK General Election saw him replace Cecil Franks as MP with a majority of 3,578. He then increased this majority to 14 497 in the Labour landslide of the 1997 Election

After being a part of the Department of Health from 1998, he was made a member of the Privy Council in 2001. In the reshuffle following the 2005 general election (in which his majority fell to just over 6,000), he was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, replacing his close friend and former flatmate, Alan Milburn.

His position in this role was short lived, however. Following the second resignation of David Blunkett, Hutton was appointed as his replacement in the role of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on November 2, 2005. Hutton is now seen as one of Tony Blair's closest supporters [1] and was recently named as a possible successor to him [2] upon his retirement before the next general election.

[edit] External links

John Hutton MP official site
Cabinet Office - Rt Hon John Hutton MP official profile
Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: John Hutton MP
TheyWorkForYou.com - John Hutton MP

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by: Cecil Franks	Member of Parliament for Barrow and Furness 1992 – present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by: Alan Milburn	Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 2005	Succeeded by: Hilary Armstrong
Preceded by: David Blunkett	Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2005 – present	Incumbent