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Born in Scotland in May 1947, John Reid went to school at Coatbridge. He read
History at Stirling University, staying to take a Doctorate in Economic History.
He worked as a research officer for the Labour Party from 1979 to 1983. He acted
as political adviser to Neil Kinnock from 1983 to 1985 and organised Scottish
Trade Unionists for Labour from 1986 to 1987. Since 1987 John Reid has been MP
for Motherwell North (renamed Hamilton North and Bellshill) - so that though
health has been devolved to Scotland, the English NHS was in the care of a Scot
representing a Scottish constituency.
He has held the following posts in
Parliament: Opposition Spokesman on Children 1989-90; Opposition Spokesman on
Defence 1990-97; Minister of State for Defence 1997-8; Minister for Transport
1998-99; Secretary of State for Scotland May 99- Jan 2000; Secretary of State
for Northern Ireland Jan 2000 - Oct 2002; Minister without Portfolio and Party
Chair Oct 2002 - Apr 2003; Leader of the House of Commons and President of the
Council Apr 2003.
John Reid enjoys reading history and solving crosswords in
his spare time. He is married to Ms Carine Adler.
The Guardian has described him as a hard man with a past, a Glaswegian ex-communist trusted by Tony Blair to deliver the goods.
John Reid moved to the Ministry of Defence in May 2005
Guardian profile
Article in The Times, 28th September 2004 - David
Chantler
John Reid is a man on a mission. The Health Secretary, whose own
political philosophy has evolved considerably from his Communist beginnings, is
trying to convert the rest of us to new Labour's new view of the public sector.
There is a subtle but significant change in the way in which Reid will present
his vision for the public services at the Labour Party conference. Instead of
the emphasis being on what the Government can do for us, the onus will be
shifted on to what the public, and especially the deprived, can do for
themselves. "The core of new Labour's political and philosophical approach is to
increase the power that people have over their own lives," Reid says. "If people
do not take up this power, very little happens, and equality does not improve.
Government supports the reduction of inequality but disadvantaged people do the
hard work of making it happen."
This refinement of Labour's mantra of
"choice" in the public services can be seen as a response to a battle raging
with the Conservatives to take big central government out of people's everyday
lives. Not only are the two main parties competing to downsize the Civil
Service, but both are also keen to offer "personalised" public services, which
individuals can negotiate to meet their own needs, rather than have a
one-size-fits-all service thrust upon them.
Reid's aim this week is to
re-educate those within Labour who feel that only the "sharp-elbowed middle
classes" will make the most of their new choices - and to disabuse these of the
notion that encouraging private providers is the same as privatising the NHS or
other core services Reid, a working class intellectual with a doctorate on the
19th Century West African slave trade, realises that creased emphasis on
personal responsibility leaves him open to the suspicion that Labour is
gradually lowering expectations of what it can achieve before the next election.
It will also sound to some in the Labour movement like Tory type thinking of the
type used by Lord Tebbit when he told the unemployed to get on their bikes and
look for work. Reid counters "The parodying of this position is that John Reid
says the poor have only themselves to blame - there is no responsibility of
government. But the new Labour Government provides support develop people's
motivation" Labour created the New Deal, which helped people to help themselves
back into work, he says, and on NHS services such as smoking cessation, Labour
provided the programme but success not be achieved without personal effort from
the individual.
But the underlying philosophical justification lies in
the key attitude change towards the public sector that Labour wants to create.
Its personalised public services achieve, in Reid's mind, nothing less than a
class revolution. "Our future policies must be about empowerment," he enthuses.
"Choosing the time you go for a hospital appointment and choosing the doctor you
see gives you power over your life. Giving up smoking gives you power over your
life. The government that achieves this will enable people and not instruct
them. In fact, the government that instructs them takes away from their power
and reduces their capacity. Since disadvantaged people depend upon public
services more than others do, policy that demands a personalised public service
will have a better impact on their lives than on people who are better off"
