John Francis Spellar, Baron Spellar, (born 5 August 1947), is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Warley, formerly Warley West, from 1992 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he previously represented Birmingham Northfield from 1982 to 1983. He served as a minister in various departments between 1997 and 2005, and as

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of ...

in the Whips' Office between 2008 and 2010. After Labour entered opposition, he served as a shadow Foreign Office minister from 2010 to 2015.

Early life

Spellar was born in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

and educated at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and

St Edmund Hall, Oxford St Edmund Hall (also known as The Hall and Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university" and was the las ...

. He was Chairman of the Oxford University Labour Club in 1967. Spellar was the Political Officer of the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EETPU) from 1969 to 1992, and was a speech-writer for general secretaries Frank Chapple and Eric Hammond. As a young union officer he attended, along with John Golding and Roger Godsiff, the St Ermin's group of senior trade union leaders who organised to prevent the Bennite left taking over the party in the years 1981–1987. He was a councillor in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is a London Borough, borough in London, England. It is the largest and southeasternmost borough in London, and borders the county of Kent, of which it formed part until 1965. The borough's population in the 2021 ...

between 1970 and 1974.

Parliamentary career

Spellar stood for the constituency of

at the 1970 general election as Labour's youngest candidate. He was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1982 Birmingham Northfield by-election but lost at the 1983 general election to the Conservative candidate, Roger King. At the 1987 general election he stood again for the same seat but was again unsuccessful against King. Spellar returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in the 1992 general election becoming the MP for Warley West with a majority of 5,472, and was appointed an opposition whip. Following a period as opposition spokesman for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

in 1994, he was moved to shadow Defence minister in 1995. At the 1997 general election, Spellar was elected as MP for the new Warley constituency, after Warley West had been abolished in a boundary review. In the new Labour government, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

, being promoted to become

Minister of State for the Armed Forces The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces is a mid-level ministerial position at the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence in the Government of the United Kingdom. It has been held by Luke Pollard since ...

in 1999. In 2001, he was appointed to the Privy Council, as Minister of State for Transport in the

Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions The secretary of state for transport, also referred to as the transport secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the policies of the Department for Transport. The incumbent is ...

with rights to attend Cabinet. After the 2002 reshuffle, he became Minister of State at the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

, and moved to the Northern Ireland Office in 2003. He was banned from the offices of both the Mayor of Derry and the Mayor of Belfast during that year, because he supported the reinstatement to the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

of convicted murderers Mark Wright and James Fisher of the

Scots Guards The Scots Guards (SG) is one of the five Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. Its origins are as the personal bodyguard of King Charles I of England and Scotland. Its lineage can be traced back to 1642 in the Ki ...

. He left the front benches in 2005, but in 2008, he rejoined the government as a whip (

) and served until Labour entered opposition in May 2010. In November 2015, Spellar he suggested that

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

should resign as Labour leader over the question of whether to conduct air strikes on

ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

in Syria. Spellar was in favour of military action, and he described Corbyn's admission that he could not personally support the air strikes as an "attempted coup" by "Corbyn and his tiny band of Trots in the bunker." Spellar supported

Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a British lobbyist and former Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. Smith was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd (UK Parliament constituency), Pontypridd from 2 ...

in the 2016 Labour leadership election. In November 2017, Spellar was appointed as a member of the UK parliament delegation to the

NATO Parliamentary Assembly The NATO Parliamentary Assembly serves as the consultative interparliamentary organisation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It consists of delegates from the parliaments of the 32 NATO member countries as well as from associate ...

. In March 2019, Spellar was one of 21 MPs—and the only Labour MP—to vote against

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

-inclusive

sex and relationships education Relationship and Sex Education (RSE), formerly Sex and Relationships Education (SRE), is a form of sex education taught in UK schools. SRE focuses on exploring the emotional, social and physical aspects of growing up, having relationships, eng ...

in English schools. He defended his vote by saying that "parents have the primary responsibility for bringing up their children and they may have different views.” The co-chair of

LGBT Labour LGBT+ Labour is the socialist society officially representing the LGBTQ wing of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the organisation is to campaign within the Labour Party, and the wider Labour movement to promote the rights ...

Melantha Chittenden tweeted in response to his vote, saying: "Woke up to find out that one Labour MP voted against LGBT inclusive relationship and sex education and I’ve been sat here trying to work out how to explain how furious I am, but I only have one thing to say: John Spellar shame on you." On 27 May 2024, Spellar announced he would step down at the 2024 general election, after having served as an MP for over 32 years.

Peerage

After standing down as an MP, Spellar was nominated for a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

age in the 2024 Dissolution Honours. He was created ''Baron Spellar, of Smethwick in the County of the West Midlands'', on 12 August 2024.

Other political activities

Spellar is a vice-chair of

Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...

. He is a Director of the centre-right Labour grouping

Labour First Labour First is a British political organisation associated with the Labour Party. It was originally founded in 1980 but refounded in 1988. Born out of the political right wing of the Labour Party's struggles with its left wing, it sees itself as ...

, and sits on the Advisory Council of the Henry Jackson Society, a prominent

neoliberal Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

and

neoconservative Neoconservatism (colloquially neocon) is a political movement which began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party along with the growing New Left and ...

foreign policy

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

. He is also a member of the Council on Geostrategy Advisory Board.

Personal life

Spellar was married to dentist Anne Wilmot from 1981 until her death in 2003. They had a daughter.

References

External links

John Spellar
official site * , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Spellar, John 1947 births Living people Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Councillors in the London Borough of Bromley Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union-sponsored MPs Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Friends of Israel Life peers created by Charles III Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Northern Ireland Office junior ministers People educated at Dulwich College People from Bromley Trade unionists from Kent UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 UK MPs who were granted peerages