John Woodcock
 Lord Walney    (politician) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | John Zak Woodcock 14 October 1978 |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
John Woodcock, Baron Walney of the Isle of Walney in the County of Cumbria, is a British politician who was appointed the Independent Adviser on Political Violence and Disruption.[1]
John Woodcock was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Barrow and Furness from 2010 to 2019 and before that worked as a SPAD to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[2]
A former member of the Labour Party, he endorsed the Conservatives at the UK/2019 General Election.[3]
In 2020, he was ennobled in Boris Johnson's Dissolution Honours list.[4]
Contents
Suspension then resignation
John Woodcock was suspended and subsequently had the Labour whip withdrawn on 30 April 2018 following allegations of sexual harassment made against him.[5] He then sat as an Independent MP and on 18 July 2018 resigned from the Labour Party.[6]
Jewish Chronicle
In April 2020, John Woodcock was named as part of a consortium, led by Robbie Gibb and including William Shawcross and John Ware, that put in a bid to purchase the assets of the Jewish Chronicle.[7] The JC chairman Alan Jacobs criticised the offer's anonymity, saying
"A bid for the Jewish Chronicle using money from an unidentified source and fronted by a group of individuals who refuse to tell the world anything of their plans looks like a shameful attempt to hijack the world's oldest Jewish newspaper."[8]
The bid was successful.[9]
Trade Envoy to Tanzania
John Woodcock was nominated for a life peerage in the 2019 Dissolution Honours, along with four other former Labour MPs who had backed Johnson's Brexit deal or endorsed the Conservatives in the election. He was created Baron Walney, of the Isle of Walney in the County of Cumbria, and sits on the crossbenches in the House of Lords.
On 23 August 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Lord Walney as the UK's trade envoy to Tanzania.[10]
Palestine Action
On 3 September 2024, replying to Lord Walney, Palestine Action posted on X:
- "We’ve never been more emboldened to fight the Israel-funded lobbyists working against our national security."[11]
Lord Walney's post:
- "Palestine Action extremists here are emboldened and ever more brazen in deploying criminal violence to scare people away from working with the UK defence industry. This is criminality bordering on terrorism that directly seeks to damage our national security."[12]
References
- ↑ "Lord Walney announced as independent adviser on political violence and disruption"
- ↑ "MEET LABOUR'S MAN SET TO REPLACE JOHN HUTTON"
- ↑ "General election: Second ex-Labour MP urges people to vote for Boris Johnson to stop Jeremy Corbyn"
- ↑ "John Woodcock MP"
- ↑ "MP John Woodcock quits Labour with attack on 'hard left'"
- ↑ "Take two: Ex-Change UK MPs forge new alliance called The Independents"
- ↑ "Fury at emergence of rival bid for Jewish Chronicle"
- ↑ "Mystery over consortium’s ‘shameful’ bid for Jewish Chronicle and Jewish News"
- ↑ "Jewish Chronicle saved by consortium after messy takeover battle"
- ↑ "PM announces new Trade Envoys to boost British business around the world"
- ↑ "We’ve never been more emboldened to fight the Israel funded lobbyists working against our national security"
- ↑ "Palestine Action extremists here are emboldened and ever more brazen in deploying criminal violence to scare people away from working with the UK defence industry"
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