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Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Clarke was born in 1940 and was educated at Nottingham High School and Cambridge University. He studied to be a barrister after leaving University and was called to the bar in 1963. He unsuccessfully contested the seat of Mansfield in 1964 and 1966 before being elected for the constituency of Rushcliffe in 1970, a constituency which he still represents.
Clarke was appointed as a Government whip in 1972 until the Conservatives lost the General Election in 1974. He was appointed by the then Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Thatcher, as Industry Spokesman in 1976. After the Conservative's General Election victory in 1979, Clarke became a Junior Minister at the Department of Transport from 1979 to 1982, Minister of State for Health from 1982 to 1985 and then Employment Minister with a position in the Cabinet from 1985 to 1987.
After the 1987 General Election Clarke was moved to become a Minister at the Department of Trade and Industry before being promoted to Secretary of State for Health in 1988, which he held until Thatcher's last reshuffle in November 1990, when he became Secretary of State for Education and Science. John Major promoted to Kenneth Clarke to Home Secretary after the 1992 General Election, and then following Norman Lamont's resignation, he held the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997.
After the Conservative's General Election defeat in 1997, Clarke stood for leadership of the party, but was beaten by William Hague. He had formed an alliance with John Redwood in the third round of the leadership contest in a move which he hoped would unite the party, but the move was unpopular amongst some Conservative MPs. In 2001, following William Hague's resignation, Clarke tried for a second time to win the leadership of the Party, but despite winning the majority support of party members, Iain Duncan Smith was chosen by Conservative MPs. Following Michael Howard's resignation following the 2005 General Election, Clarke tried again for a third time for the party leadership, but despite strong public support, Clarke lost in the first round.
The new Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, appointed Ken Clarke as the head of the party's Democracy Taskforce in late 2005.