John Hutton

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John Hutton, MP

Background

John Hutton (Lord Hutton of Furness) was Labour MP for Barrow and Furness between April 1992 and April 2010. He entered the House of Lords on 1 July 2010. [1]

Hutton was educated at Westcliff High School for Boys, in Essex, and Magdalen College, Oxford. He became a law lecturer at Northumbria University, before being elected the MP for Barrow and Furness in 1992. He is a friend and former flatmate of key Blair ally Alan Milburn. He was appointed Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in June 2007.[2]

Pro-Nuclear Defender

Hutton was seen as a keen defender of local industries including Britain's nuclear Trident programme.[3] The Times described him as a "Champion of the nuclear industry" within the Cabinet,[4] and his outspoken pro-nuclear stance reportedly angered many Labour activists.[5]

In June 2011 Hutton took over as Chairman of the Nuclear Industry Association following the end of Lord Martin O’Neill’s three-year tenure in the role.[6]

Life after government

Hutton became a member of the advisory board of U.S. nuclear power company Hyperion Power Generation (now Gen4 Energy, Inc) in July 2010. The UK government's Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which vets the jobs of former ministers, said it saw 'no reason' why he should not take up the role immediately - provided he did not lobby his former department for 12 months. [6][5]

He also became an adviser to lobbying firm APCO Worldwide in August 2010, which the Committee similarly approved. [7]

In 2010 Lord Hutton was invited by the coalition government to Chair an Independent Commission on public service pensions, with its final report published in March 2011. He was paid £4,000 per month for a minimum of three days per week while conducting the review over a nine-month period with travel and subsistence expenses.[8] [9]

External resources

References

  1. They Work For You Lord Hutton of Furness, accessed 20 October 2010.
  2. BBC News "Profile: John Hutton", Daily Mail, November 3, 2005.
  3. BBC News "John Hutton", February 10, 2005
  4. "The Nuclear Cabinet", The Times, November 23, 2005; not accessable online
  5. 5.0 5.1 Jason Groves, [1], 16 June 2010
  6. 6.0 6.1 'PEOPLE MOVES' - June 2011 edition, Public Affairs News, 9 June 2011
  7. Advisory Committee on Business Appointments Twelfth Annual Report 2010-2011, ADVICE GIVEN TO FORMER MINISTERS DURING THE PREVIOUS REPORTING YEAR ON APPOINTMENTS WHICH WERE TAKEN UP AFTER MARCH 2010
  8. HM Treasury, Independent Public Service Pensions Commission, undated, accessed 9 May 2012
  9. Hansard Written Answers, 12 July 2010 : Column 532W, www.parliament.uk, accessed 8 May 2012