Shaun Woodward

Shaun Anthony Woodward (born 26 October 1958) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2007 to 2010.

A former television researcher and producer, Woodward began his political career in the Conservative Party.

From 1981 to 1982, he was parliamentary lobbyist for the National Consumer Council.

From 1982 to 1990, he worked as a researcher and producer for BBC TV News and Current Affairs on the programmes That's Life!, Panorama and Newsnight.

He subsequently wrote a book about Ben Hardwick.

From 1991 to 1992, he was director of communications for the Conservative Party.

He was elected in 1997 as Conservative MP for Witney, but joined Labour in 1999.

Woodward was selected as Douglas Hurd's successor as Conservative candidate for the safe seat of Witney at the 1997 election, having previously been a senior official of the party.

Hurd's majority from the previous election was over 22,000.

Elected with a 7,000 majority, he was a front-bench spokesman on London for the Conservative opposition under William Hague until 1999, when he was sacked for supporting the repeal of Section 28, a regulation which aimed at preventing the promotion of homosexuality in schools.

After being sacked from the Tory front bench, on 20 December 1999, Woodward left the Conservative Party to move to the ruling Labour Party, without resigning as an MP.

This meant that no by-election took place.

He then served as Labour MP for St Helens South from 2001 to 2015.

He was given a job co-ordinating the Labour party's 2001 general election campaign.

Woodward's local Conservative constituency association requested that he resign and run again in a by-election, under the Labour banner, as he had originally won the safe Conservative seat by campaigning as a Conservative.

Woodward refused to hold a by-election, and continued to represent Witney for a further eighteen months.

Woodward was criticised by his former colleagues in the Conservative Party, including leader William Hague, Conservative former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine and party chairman Michael Ancram.

Other critics included backbench Labour MPs Tony Benn and Jeremy Corbyn, and ten years later, former Labour government minister Chris Mullin, in his political diaries.

Michael Heseltine said Woodward would "soon become a dot on the horizon", whilst Conservative leader William Hague wrote a public letter to Woodward on his resignation, in which he stated: "You have left a party whose members have given you their loyal support. You have done so for reasons not of integrity or of principle, but for your own careerist reasons. That is an attitude of which I am determined to rid our party..."

Conservative chairman Michael Ancram said: "Shaun has decided for his own reasons to leave the party and no amount of sincerity or fake sincerity is going to hide that fact..."

Woodward's defection was welcomed by senior Labour figures.

In the June 2001 general election, Woodward decided not to contest his Witney seat as a Labour candidate and instead found a safe Labour seat in St Helens South.

Chris Mullin wrote with shock of "the awful Shaun Woodward" defecting to Mullin's own side, calling "the New Labour elite parachuting [Woodward] into a safe seat ... one of New Labour's vilest stitch-ups ... made my flesh creep".

However, the Liberal Democrats' candidate, Brian Spencer, saw his party's vote increase from 23% in 2001 to 28%.

Michael Perry of the Socialist Labour Party contested the seat again and received just under 2% of the vote.

As a Labour MP, Woodward served on the Joint Committee on Human Rights, and was a prominent supporter of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

In May 2005, Woodward was re-elected in St Helens South receiving 54% of the vote and his majority increased.

Following the 2005 election, Woodward was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office.

In the May 2006 reshuffle, Tony Blair named Woodward Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport with responsibilities for the digital switchover for TV.

After serving in junior ministerial offices in the Northern Ireland Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Woodward served in the cabinet from 28 June 2007 to 11 May 2010 as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

On 28 June 2007, in his first cabinet, newly appointed Prime Minister Gordon Brown appointed Woodward as the Northern Ireland Secretary, replacing Peter Hain.

Woodward chose not to receive a ministerial salary because of his personal wealth.

As Northern Ireland Secretary, Woodward reportedly became a close confidant of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.

His successor in Witney was David Cameron, who subsequently became Prime Minister in 2010.

When news of Woodward's intention to stand reached St. Helens, a strong left-wing challenge was put forward in an attempt to deny the former Conservative the safe Labour seat.

Neil Thompson of the Socialist Alliance and Michael Perry of the Socialist Labour Party both contested the St Helens South seat and received a total of 12% of the vote between them.

Woodward won the seat with a much reduced 49% of the vote.

Following the 2010 general election, Woodward was the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland until 7 October 2011, when he was replaced by Vernon Coaker.

Woodward was educated at Bristol Grammar School, at the time a Direct Grant Grammar School, and now an independent day school, followed by Jesus College, Cambridge, where he studied English literature.

He also studied at Harvard University as a Kennedy Scholar.