John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan

The Lord Reid of Cardowan
Official portrait, 2020
Home Secretary
In office
5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byCharles Clarke
Succeeded byJacqui Smith
Secretary of State for Defence
In office
6 May 2005 – 5 May 2006
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byGeoff Hoon
Succeeded byDes Browne
Secretary of State for Health
In office
13 June 2003 – 6 May 2005
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byAlan Milburn
Succeeded byPatricia Hewitt
Leader of the House of Commons
In office
4 April 2003 – 13 June 2003
Prime MinisterTony Blair
DeputyBen Bradshaw
Preceded byRobin Cook
Succeeded byPeter Hain
Lord President of the Council
In office
4 April 2003 – 13 June 2003
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byRobin Cook
Succeeded byThe Lord Williams of Mostyn
Minister without Portfolio
Chairman of the Labour Party
In office
24 October 2002 – 4 April 2003
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byCharles Clarke
Succeeded byIan McCartney
First Minister of Northern Ireland
as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
14 October 2002 – 24 October 2002
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byDavid Trimble (FM)
Mark Durkan (dFM)
Succeeded byPaul Murphy
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
In office
25 January 2001 – 24 October 2002
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byPeter Mandelson
Succeeded byPaul Murphy
Secretary of State for Scotland
In office
17 May 1999 – 25 January 2001
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byDonald Dewar
Succeeded byHelen Liddell
Junior ministerial offices
1997–1999
Minister of State for Transport
In office
27 July 1998 – 17 May 1999
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Sec. of StateJohn Prescott
Preceded byGavin Strang
Succeeded byHelen Liddell
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
In office
2 May 1997 – 27 July 1998
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Sec. of StateGeorge Robertson
Preceded byNicholas Soames
Succeeded byDoug Henderson
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
16 July 2010
Life Peerage
Member of Parliament
for Airdrie and Shotts
In office
5 May 2005 – 12 April 2010
Preceded byHelen Liddell
Succeeded byPamela Nash
Member of Parliament
for Hamilton North and Bellshill
Motherwell North (1987–1997)
In office
11 June 1987 – 12 April 2005
Preceded byJames Hamilton
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
John Reid

(1947-05-08) 8 May 1947 (age 77)
Bellshill Maternity Hospital, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Political partyLabour (since 1979)
Other political
affiliations
Communist Party of Great Britain (1972–1979)
Young Communist League (1972–1979)
Spouses
  • Cathie McGowan
    (m. 1969; died 1998)
  • (m. 2002)
ChildrenKevin · Mark
Alma materThe Open University
University of Stirling
(BA, PhD)
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan PC (born 8 May 1947) is a British politician. A member of the Labour Party, he has held various Cabinet positions under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1999 to 2007, lastly as Home Secretary from 2006 to 2007. He was also a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2010, and has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2010.

Born in Bellshill to working-class, Roman Catholic parents, Reid first became involved in politics when he joined the Young Communist League in 1972.[1] He later joined the Labour Party, working for them as a senior researcher before being elected to the House of Commons in 1987 as the MP for Motherwell North. He served as a junior minister in two departments from 1997, before he was promoted to the Cabinet in 1999; he served continuously in the Cabinet until Blair resigned in 2007. Reid served as Scottish Secretary from 1999 to 2001, Northern Ireland Secretary from 2001 to 2002, Chairman of the Labour Party and Minister without Portfolio from 2002 to 2003, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council in 2003, Health Secretary from 2003 to 2005, Defence Secretary from 2005 to 2006, and Home Secretary from 2006 to 2007.

He retired from frontline politics in 2007 following Gordon Brown's appointment as Prime Minister, taking on a role as the Chairman of Celtic Football Club. After stepping down as an MP in 2010, he was nominated for a life peerage in the Dissolution Honours and elevated to the House of Lords. Reid took a leading role in the campaign for a "No" vote in the 2011 AV referendum, appearing alongside Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, and also took a leading role in the campaign opposing Scottish independence.

  1. ^ Bower, Tom (23 September 2006). "The dark horse". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 June 2014. ...Reid stood in the elections. Success depended upon support not only from Labour students but also from the communists. Approaching Jim White, the secretary of the Young Communist League, Reid professed to be a convert seeking membership. "He told us he was a Leninist and Stalinist," White recalls. "Although I was suspicious about his transition, we couldn't tell if he was acting. We let him join." With White's support and Reid's good organisation, he won the vote.