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Straw: A polished diplomat, a tough politician
Re-appointed to run Britain's foreign policy, Straw is an archetypal loyalist of Blair's so-called New Labour movenment.
Re-appointed Friday to run Britain's foreign policy, Jack Straw is an archetypal loyalist of Prime Minister Tony Blair's so-called New Labour movenment who has been a party member since he was 14 and foreign secretary since 2001.
He was in charge of the Foreign Office during the war in Iraq in 2003, conducting the British alliance with Washington with aplomb despite the fierce opposition of the British electorate to the US-led invasion.
Straw, who speaks with a soft stutter, is a polished diplomat but is by no means an aloof politician. While close to Blair he also manages to keep on good terms with Blair's biggest rival, the chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown.
Straw also owes his political success to his ability to establish close relations with ordinary voters in the northern industrial city of Blackburn, where about a quarter of the population is of immigrant mainly Muslim origin and which he has represented since 1979.
Despite the unpopularity of the Iraq war and the affairs of state that kept him much of the time in London, Straw made sure that he kept close to voters by making frequent visits to his constituency.
Even so, he acknowledged that it had been "a tough fight" to win reelection.
The 58-year-old Straw faced two major challenges as foreign secretary -- first Britain's presidency of the European Union from July 1 to December 31, and then the British referendum on the European constitution in 2006.
Straw comes from a militant left-wing family. His grandfather was a Labour party activist, his father was a conscientious objector during World War II and his mother was a loyal Labour member and pacifist.
Straw joined the "Blairites" as spokesman for home (interior) affairs when Labour was in opposition and became home secretary after the Labour landslide victory of 1997. In that job he applied to the letter Blair's dictum of "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime."
The most controversial moment of his tenure at the Home Office was his decision not to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to face human rights and war crimes charges in Spain.
Born August 3, 1946, John Withaker Straw became president of the National Union of Students in 1969, earned a law degree from Leeds university and was elected to parliament in 1979.
He is reckoned by many to be one of the best orators in the House of Commons.
Straw is passionate about cooking, and is a support of Blackburn Rovers soccer club.
