Larry Whitty

Lord Whitty
Born	John Lawrence Whitty 15 June 1943
Alma mater	St John's College (Cambridge)
Party	Labour
Chair of the Road Safety Foundation In office July 2014 - Present  Member of the House of Lords  In office 21 October 1996 - Present  General Secretary of the Labour Party  In office 1985 - 1994 Employer Labour Party

Larry Whitty, Baron Whitty of Camberwell is a former General Secretary of the Labour Party who the Sunday Mirror reports is to head an inquiry into the leaked report "The work of the Labour Party’s Governance and Legal Unit in relation to antisemitism, 2014-2019".

In July 2014, Lord Whitty was appointed Chairman of the Road Safety Foundation, taking over from Lord Dubs who led the charity since 2007.

Career

Trade unions

Larry Whitty was employed by the Trades Union Congress from 1970 to 1973 and the General Municipal Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union (GMB) from 1973 to 1985.

Labour Party

In 1985, Whitty became the General Secretary of the Labour Party, a post he held until 1994. He was part of the reforming leadership of Neil Kinnock and in the role progressed a wide-ranging agenda including the modification of internal rules, a shift towards a national membership scheme, the expulsion of entryist Militant group members and, following the 1987 General Election defeat, the internal Policy Review. Whitty's period as General Secretary meant that he oversaw two General Elections (the later in 1992), and the election of John Smith and Tony Blair as Leader of the Labour Party. He was the European Co-ordinator for the Labour Party from 1994 to 1997.

Peerage

Whitty was created a life peer on 21 October 1996 as Baron Whitty of Camberwell in the London Borough of Southwark. From July 1998, Whitty was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions with responsibility for roads and road safety issues. From 1997 Lord Whitty was a Lord-in-Waiting (Government Whip) covering education and foreign affairs. He became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) with responsibility for Farming, Food and Sustainable Energy in June 2001, serving in this position until the General Election of May 2005.

Consumer Focus

Whitty was appointed as the first Chairman of Consumer Focus in July 2007. Consumer Focus was the statutory organisation campaigning for a fair deal for consumers in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland. Consumer Focus was created through the merger of three organisations – energywatch, Postwatch and the National Consumer Council (including the Scottish and Welsh Consumer Councils) – by the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007.

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References

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