John Reid, Baron Reid of Cardowan

The Right Honourable
The Lord Reid of Cardowan
PC
The Right Honourable The Lord Reid of Cardowan PC
	Official portrait, 2020
Home Secretary
	In office; 5 May 2006 – 27 June 2007
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Charles Clarke
Succeeded by	Jacqui Smith
Secretary of State for Defence
	In office; 6 May 2005 – 5 May 2006
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Geoff Hoon
Succeeded by	Des Browne
Secretary of State for Health
	In office; 13 June 2003 – 6 May 2005
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Alan Milburn
Succeeded by	Patricia Hewitt
Leader of the House of Commons
	In office; 4 April 2003 – 13 June 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Deputy	Ben Bradshaw
Preceded by	Robin Cook
Succeeded by	Peter Hain
Lord President of the Council
	In office; 4 April 2003 – 13 June 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Robin Cook
Succeeded by	The Lord Williams of Mostyn
Minister without Portfolio; Chairman of the Labour Party
	In office; 24 October 2002 – 4 April 2003
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Charles Clarke
Succeeded by	Ian McCartney
First Minister of Northern Ireland
	as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
	In office; 14 October 2002 – 24 October 2002
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	David Trimble (FM); Mark Durkan (dFM)
Succeeded by	Paul Murphy
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
	In office; 25 January 2001 – 24 October 2002
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Peter Mandelson
Succeeded by	Paul Murphy
Secretary of State for Scotland
	In office; 17 May 1999 – 25 January 2001
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	Donald Dewar
Succeeded by	Helen Liddell
Prime Minister
Junior ministerial offices; 1997–1999
Minister of State for Transport
	In office; 27 July 1998 – 17 May 1999
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Sec. of State	John Prescott
Preceded by	Gavin Strang
Succeeded by	Helen Liddell
Minister of State for the Armed Forces
	In office; 2 May 1997 – 27 July 1998
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Sec. of State	George Robertson
Preceded by	Nicholas Soames
Succeeded by	Doug Henderson
Preceded by
Parliamentary offices
Member of the House of Lords; Lord Temporal
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 16 July 2010; Life Peerage
Member of Parliament; for Airdrie and Shotts
	In office; 5 May 2005 – 12 April 2010
Preceded by	Helen Liddell
Succeeded by	Pamela Nash
Member of Parliament; for Hamilton North and Bellshill; Motherwell North (1987–1997)
	In office; 11 June 1987 – 12 April 2005
Preceded by	James Hamilton
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	John Reid; 8 May 1947 (age 77); Bellshill Maternity Hospital, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Political party	Labour (since 1979)
Other political; affiliations	Communist Party of Great Britain (1972–1979); Young Communist League (1972–1979)
Spouses	Cathie McGowan; (m. 1969; died 1998); Carine Adler; (m. 2002);
Children	Kevin · Mark
Alma mater	The Open University; University of Stirling; (BA, PhD)
Signature
Website	Official 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.

^ 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.

[Won-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.

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