Sir Jack Anderson
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:12 pm
Biographical Details
Name: Jack Matthew Anderson.
Gender: Male (0 Points).
Sexuality: Straight, m. Sara Boyd (m. 1968). Three children - Linda (b. 1970), Ann (b. 1974) and Richard (b. 1975). (0 points)
Age When First Elected: Born 11/09/1943, aged 53. Elected in 1992, aged 48. (0 points).
Constituency: Southampton Test.
Party: Labour
Faction: Brownite.
Religion: Church of England (0 points)
Education: Colchester Grammar School, 1954-1961 (7 points).
University:
Career Information
MP Election: 1992 (4 points).
Widely publicised speech (1995): The euro. Jack made a strong argument in favour of the euro, calling it an "economic no brainer" and stating that supporting the euro was the "patriotic choice." In doing so, he gained the respect of pro euro Labour MPs but created some ire for Gordon Brown, who he was PPS to.
Widely publicised speech (2000): Financial services regulations, where he argued the financial sector was underregulated, Labour's Financial Services and Markets Act didn't go far enough and warned of the grave consequences this could have (3 points).
Widely publicised speech (2000): Tax evasion, where he argued against the multiple loopholes which allow "the wealthiest to shirk their duties to the country" and for the closing of those tax loopholes (3 points).
Widely publicised speech (2001): On regional inequality, where he argued about the record regional inequality the UK has, and the "shame" this brings the UK. While he showed sympathy for devolution as a solution, he argued there were concrete economic steps the UK could take now, such as union-business partnerships, for the support of SMEs, regional investment banks and for support for manufacturing industries. His call for "every town to have a proud industry it could call its own" made positive headlines (3 points).
Parliamentary Experience:
Biography
Jack Matthew Anderson was born in 1943 in Colchester, Essex, to Robert Anderson, an accountant and Prudence Anderson (née Rigby), a housewife. Jack’s parents had experienced fertility problems after having Jack, so he was a rare (for his generation) only child.
Jack experienced a boring, but pleasant, middle class upbringing: his parents weren’t rich, but they were more than comfortable. He attended Colchester grammar school, where he was a ‘rebellious’ child. Despite this, he excelled academically. After achieving top grades, he secured a place in Oxford to study PPE.
Jack secured a place in St John’s College, Oxford, where he studied PPE and graduated with a first. Despite again being academically successful, Jack admits he “he could have been a more engaged student” and was instead much more focused on “partying and student politics”, where he had run successful campaigns focusing on student rents and the pay of University staff. At this point, Jack states he was “political, but not party political” — being conflicted between his personal left leaning views and his more conservative upbringing. Still, he admits he ‘proudly’ voted for Harold Wilson, and had “gotten a habit of voting Labour since.”
Upon leaving Oxford, Jack managed to secure a postgraduate placement in the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration (later the Harvard Kennedy school) where he studied economics. Despite living in a foreign country, he continued with student activism, playing “a significant role” in organising civil rights boycotts and in protesting against the Vietnam war. There, he met his future wife, an American student named Sara.
On graduating, Jack secured employment as an economist at the British embassy in Washington, eventually marrying Sara while employed there in 1968. When she became pregnant with their first child, Jack said he ‘rushed’ to secure employment elsewhere in Britain, as it was “where he wanted his kids to grow up.” He worked as an economist in the Bank of England, living and working in London while raising three children – Linda (b. 1970), Ann (b. 1974) and Richard (b. 1975). Linda grew up to be a successful economist at the IMF. He is yet to be a grandparent, to his annoyance.
On being employed, Jack stopped any of his previous activist antics, saying he found the transition from activist to technocrat “shockingly easy.” He worked to a relatively high position, becoming a Senior Economist whose research and work had proven to be “fundamental” in the thinking of both the Wilson and Callaghan governments. However, after the Winter of Discontent he felt he needed a more ‘active’ role, explaining: “In the late 70s, I realised I wanted to critique governments – not just work for them.”
Despite little journalistic experience except “a week long stint in the student paper at Harvard”, Jack was hired as Chief Economic Correspondent at the Financial Times, a move which was controversial within the organisation and within media circles despite his economic credentials. Having this role throughout most of the Thatcher era, he became known as “one of the chief economic critics of Thatcherism” who had drawn the ire of the administration after regularly commenting that “Thatcherism has no basis in economic reality”, though he had also critiqued the Labour Party of the early to mid eighties as “regressive and autarkic.” Jack’s tenure at the Financial Times was notable for shaping their thinking, strengthening both their more pro investment and pro Europe stances. It is speculated that Jack had ‘paved the road’ for the FT’s endorsement of Labour in 1992.
However, Jack still often had disagreements with the organisation. After Neil Kinnock’s infamous Militant speech, he was “once again convinced Labour was the best choice for Britain” – which led to clashes with the FTs editorial team. Having maintained channels with communication and a good relationship with John Smith, he left the FT in the wake of the 1987 election, became a Labour Party member and became John Smith’s chief economic adviser. As a sharp economic mind who had a natural way of appealing to the middle class and Southern voters he had grown up with, Jack quickly rose up the ranks and was selected to be the candidate for Southampton Test, which he won from the Conservatives.
As an MP, Jack was supportive of Labour modernisers and criticised “the backwards politics of the Militant left.” He had a strong relationship with John Smith and Gordon Brown, but developed a frostier relationship with Blair and his allies, having pushed for Brown to become Prime Minister. He was PPS for a few years to Brown, but was summarily dismissed after comments he had made that “[Tony] Blair doesn’t know how to run an economy” and that “he [Blair] was completely dependent on Gordon [Brown]” had been leaked not longer after Labour’s election victory.
After quickly securing a place on the Treasury select committee, Jack became a respected economic voice across both parties and in the media and seen as a Labour rising star that faded too quickly, with him being constructively critical of the government’s economic approach. On being appointed Chair of the Treasury select committee just prior to the 2001 election, he often made headlines for his harsh and critical exchanges with Gordon Brown, who he had once been friendly with. As Chair, he has focused on many issues which have gained him cross party support and respect, including the regulation of financial services, regional rebalancing of the UK and tackling tax evasion. Such work gained him a knighthood in January 2001.
Jack is broadly on the old right of the party, and was once considered a staunch Brownite despite his drift from both Blair and Brown in the late 90s. He is respected in and out of the Labour Party for his economic credentials and thinking, with one close friend stating “Jack has lived in the UK or US his whole life, but it’s Germany he’s enamoured by” – as Jack has communicated fiscally austere, pro investment and manufacturing, staunchly pro Europe and pro union-business partnership positions extensively, that viewpoint probably isn’t too far off his vision.
Name: Jack Matthew Anderson.
Gender: Male (0 Points).
Sexuality: Straight, m. Sara Boyd (m. 1968). Three children - Linda (b. 1970), Ann (b. 1974) and Richard (b. 1975). (0 points)
Age When First Elected: Born 11/09/1943, aged 53. Elected in 1992, aged 48. (0 points).
Constituency: Southampton Test.
Party: Labour
Faction: Brownite.
Religion: Church of England (0 points)
Education: Colchester Grammar School, 1954-1961 (7 points).
University:
- PPE, St John’s College, Oxford (BA), 1961-1964 (5 points).
- Economics, Harvard Graduate School of Administration (MS) 1964-1966 (5 points).
Career Information
- Economist, British Embassy in Washington D.C, 1966-1970, (20 points).
- Economist, Bank of England 1970-1978, (20 points).
- Chief Economics Correspondent, Financial Times 1978-1988, (10 points).
- Chief Economic Advisor, John Smith, 1988-1992, (10 points).
MP Election: 1992 (4 points).
Widely publicised speech (1995): The euro. Jack made a strong argument in favour of the euro, calling it an "economic no brainer" and stating that supporting the euro was the "patriotic choice." In doing so, he gained the respect of pro euro Labour MPs but created some ire for Gordon Brown, who he was PPS to.
Widely publicised speech (2000): Financial services regulations, where he argued the financial sector was underregulated, Labour's Financial Services and Markets Act didn't go far enough and warned of the grave consequences this could have (3 points).
Widely publicised speech (2000): Tax evasion, where he argued against the multiple loopholes which allow "the wealthiest to shirk their duties to the country" and for the closing of those tax loopholes (3 points).
Widely publicised speech (2001): On regional inequality, where he argued about the record regional inequality the UK has, and the "shame" this brings the UK. While he showed sympathy for devolution as a solution, he argued there were concrete economic steps the UK could take now, such as union-business partnerships, for the support of SMEs, regional investment banks and for support for manufacturing industries. His call for "every town to have a proud industry it could call its own" made positive headlines (3 points).
Parliamentary Experience:
- PPS to Gordon Brown, 1995-1998, (4 points).
- Member, Treasury Select Committee, 1998-2000.
- Chair, Treasury Select Committee, 2000-2001.
Biography
Jack Matthew Anderson was born in 1943 in Colchester, Essex, to Robert Anderson, an accountant and Prudence Anderson (née Rigby), a housewife. Jack’s parents had experienced fertility problems after having Jack, so he was a rare (for his generation) only child.
Jack experienced a boring, but pleasant, middle class upbringing: his parents weren’t rich, but they were more than comfortable. He attended Colchester grammar school, where he was a ‘rebellious’ child. Despite this, he excelled academically. After achieving top grades, he secured a place in Oxford to study PPE.
Jack secured a place in St John’s College, Oxford, where he studied PPE and graduated with a first. Despite again being academically successful, Jack admits he “he could have been a more engaged student” and was instead much more focused on “partying and student politics”, where he had run successful campaigns focusing on student rents and the pay of University staff. At this point, Jack states he was “political, but not party political” — being conflicted between his personal left leaning views and his more conservative upbringing. Still, he admits he ‘proudly’ voted for Harold Wilson, and had “gotten a habit of voting Labour since.”
Upon leaving Oxford, Jack managed to secure a postgraduate placement in the Harvard Graduate School of Public Administration (later the Harvard Kennedy school) where he studied economics. Despite living in a foreign country, he continued with student activism, playing “a significant role” in organising civil rights boycotts and in protesting against the Vietnam war. There, he met his future wife, an American student named Sara.
On graduating, Jack secured employment as an economist at the British embassy in Washington, eventually marrying Sara while employed there in 1968. When she became pregnant with their first child, Jack said he ‘rushed’ to secure employment elsewhere in Britain, as it was “where he wanted his kids to grow up.” He worked as an economist in the Bank of England, living and working in London while raising three children – Linda (b. 1970), Ann (b. 1974) and Richard (b. 1975). Linda grew up to be a successful economist at the IMF. He is yet to be a grandparent, to his annoyance.
On being employed, Jack stopped any of his previous activist antics, saying he found the transition from activist to technocrat “shockingly easy.” He worked to a relatively high position, becoming a Senior Economist whose research and work had proven to be “fundamental” in the thinking of both the Wilson and Callaghan governments. However, after the Winter of Discontent he felt he needed a more ‘active’ role, explaining: “In the late 70s, I realised I wanted to critique governments – not just work for them.”
Despite little journalistic experience except “a week long stint in the student paper at Harvard”, Jack was hired as Chief Economic Correspondent at the Financial Times, a move which was controversial within the organisation and within media circles despite his economic credentials. Having this role throughout most of the Thatcher era, he became known as “one of the chief economic critics of Thatcherism” who had drawn the ire of the administration after regularly commenting that “Thatcherism has no basis in economic reality”, though he had also critiqued the Labour Party of the early to mid eighties as “regressive and autarkic.” Jack’s tenure at the Financial Times was notable for shaping their thinking, strengthening both their more pro investment and pro Europe stances. It is speculated that Jack had ‘paved the road’ for the FT’s endorsement of Labour in 1992.
However, Jack still often had disagreements with the organisation. After Neil Kinnock’s infamous Militant speech, he was “once again convinced Labour was the best choice for Britain” – which led to clashes with the FTs editorial team. Having maintained channels with communication and a good relationship with John Smith, he left the FT in the wake of the 1987 election, became a Labour Party member and became John Smith’s chief economic adviser. As a sharp economic mind who had a natural way of appealing to the middle class and Southern voters he had grown up with, Jack quickly rose up the ranks and was selected to be the candidate for Southampton Test, which he won from the Conservatives.
As an MP, Jack was supportive of Labour modernisers and criticised “the backwards politics of the Militant left.” He had a strong relationship with John Smith and Gordon Brown, but developed a frostier relationship with Blair and his allies, having pushed for Brown to become Prime Minister. He was PPS for a few years to Brown, but was summarily dismissed after comments he had made that “[Tony] Blair doesn’t know how to run an economy” and that “he [Blair] was completely dependent on Gordon [Brown]” had been leaked not longer after Labour’s election victory.
After quickly securing a place on the Treasury select committee, Jack became a respected economic voice across both parties and in the media and seen as a Labour rising star that faded too quickly, with him being constructively critical of the government’s economic approach. On being appointed Chair of the Treasury select committee just prior to the 2001 election, he often made headlines for his harsh and critical exchanges with Gordon Brown, who he had once been friendly with. As Chair, he has focused on many issues which have gained him cross party support and respect, including the regulation of financial services, regional rebalancing of the UK and tackling tax evasion. Such work gained him a knighthood in January 2001.
Jack is broadly on the old right of the party, and was once considered a staunch Brownite despite his drift from both Blair and Brown in the late 90s. He is respected in and out of the Labour Party for his economic credentials and thinking, with one close friend stating “Jack has lived in the UK or US his whole life, but it’s Germany he’s enamoured by” – as Jack has communicated fiscally austere, pro investment and manufacturing, staunchly pro Europe and pro union-business partnership positions extensively, that viewpoint probably isn’t too far off his vision.