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The Right Honourable Dr John Anderson "Jack" Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, PC, DL (born 4 August 1939) is a British Labour politician and was Member of Parliament for Copeland until 2005.
His father was Andrew Cunningham, leader of Durham County Council in the 1970s, who was disgraced in the 1974 Poulson scandal. Dr Cunningham was first elected as member for Whitehaven in 1970; and the renamed Copeland constituency, which was the same constituency as Whitehaven, in 1983
He joined the Shadow Cabinet in 1992, and became Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food after the 1997 general election. He embarked on a modernisation programme for the Ministry, loosening its hitherto fierce loyalty to the producer interest, and emphasising its duty to the consumer. He worked hard to secure the lifting of the European Union ban on the export of UK beef, and achieved some limited success on this. He also paved the way for the creation of the independent Food Standards Agency.
He was promoted in 1998 to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The media dubbed him cabinet enforcer, claiming that his role was effectively to sell the Government and its policies to the public and the media. Although there was some truth in this, he also led the government's work on modernising government, and chaired the Ministerial Committee on genetically-modified foods and crops.
He retired from the Cabinet in 1999, and became an influential backbencher. He stood down from parliament at the 2005 general election.
On 13 May 2005 it was announced that he would be created a life peer, and was created Baron Cunningham of Felling, of Felling in the County of Tyne and Wear, on 27 June.
| Preceded byDouglas Hogg | Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1997–1998 |
Succeeded byNick Brown |
| Preceded byDavid G. Clark | Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1998–1999 |
Succeeded byMo Mowlam |
| Preceded bynewly created | MP for Copeland 1983–2005 |
Succeeded byJamie Reed |
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