Jack Straw to stand down as MP
The Labour MP Jack Straw - a former Foreign and Home Secretary - has announced he's standing down at the next general election.
Key points: Jack Straw's career in politics
Here is a breakdown of Jack Straw's career in politics:
- He was NUS president from 1969-71 and worked briefly in journalism and the law before becoming a protege of prominent Labour veteran Barbara Castle, whose Blackburn seat he inherited.
- He entered Parliament in 1979, joining Neil Kinnock's shadow cabinet in 1987 and served as spokesman on education and environment before taking over Tony Blair's role as Shadow Home Secretary when he became leader in 1994.
- He was appointed as Home Secretary in 1997.
- He moved to Foreign Secretary after Labour's election victory in 2001.
- Straw served in two of the great offices of state and was one of only three people to hold Cabinet office throughout the Labour governments of 1997-2010.
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