George Foulkes, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock
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- For the US politician from Michigan, see George Ernest Foulkes.
George Foulkes, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock, PC (born 21 January 1942) is a politician in the United Kingdom.
His political career began in 1963, when he became Senior President of Edinburgh University Students’ Representative Council. He later moved on to become full time President of the Scottish Union of Students.
Foulkes was first elected in the 1979 general election, as Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for South Ayrshire. After that constituency's abolition in boundary changes, he was elected in the 1983 general election for the new constituency of Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley.
After serving on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and the Council of Europe, he was appointed to the Opposition Front Bench as an opposition spokesperson on Foreign Affairs from 1983-92, then for Defence from 1992-93. He then served as Joan Lestor’s deputy at Overseas Development from 1994-97.
Foulkes was a passionate supporter of Scottish Devolution and wrote a few chapters in 'A Claim of Right for Scotland' in 1988 but he did not seek to enter the Scottish Parliament.
When Labour won the election in 1997 he was appointed Under Secretary at the Department for International Development, where he was Clare Short’s deputy until February 2001, when he was appointed Minister of State for Scotland until the May 2002 reshuffle.
From June 2003 to May 2005 he was a UK delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the Assembly of the Western European Union.
Foulkes was made a member of the Privy Council in 2002, and stepped down from office at the 2005 general election.
On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a life peer, and in June 2005 the peerage was gazetted as Baron Foulkes of Cumnock. Cumnock is a small town in East Ayrshire, where James Keir Hardie, the founder of the Labour Party, is buried.
He was also made chairman of Heart of Midlothian F.C. from April 2004, however resigned on 31st October 2005.
He now represents the Labour Party on the Executive of the Socialist International, member of the Executive Committee of the Interparliamentary Union and Member of the Board of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.
Lord Foulkes of Cumnock is very active on Caribbean matters. He serves as President of the Caribbean Britain Business Council, Chair of the Dominican Republic All-Party Parliamentary Group, Vice Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago All-Party Parliamentary Group and Vice Chair of the British - Central America All-Party Parliamentary Group.
On 7 July 2006, it was announced that Lord Foulkes of Cumnock will lead the Lothian List in the upcoming Scottish Parliament election, 2007, and act as vice-chairman of Labour's Holyrood election campaign.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Jim Sillars |
Member of Parliament for South Ayrshire 1979–1983 |
Succeeded by: Constituency Abolished |
| Preceded by: New Constituency |
Member of Parliament for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley 1983–2005 |
Succeeded by: Sandra Osborne (for new seat Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock |
Categories: 1942 births | Living people | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from Scottish constituencies | Life peers | Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom | Labour Co-operative MPs (UK) | Heart of Midlothian F.C. | Scottish football chairmen and investors | UK MPs 1974-1979 | UK MPs 1979-1983 | UK MPs 1983-1987 | UK MPs 1987-1992 | UK MPs 1992-1997 | UK MPs 1997-2001 | UK MPs 2001-2005
