Frank Field (British politician)
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The Right Honourable Frank Field DL MP |
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Field speaking in 2012
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| Chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee |
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Assumed office 18 June 2015 |
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| Preceded by | Dame Anne Begg |
| Minister for Welfare Reform | |
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In office 2 May 1997 – 28 July 1998 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Peter Lilley |
| Succeeded by | John Denham |
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Member of Parliament for Birkenhead |
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Assumed office 3 May 1979 |
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| Preceded by | Edmund Dell |
| Majority | 20,652 (52.8%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 July 1942 Edmonton, Middlesex, England |
| Nationality | English |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | University of Hull |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Religion | Anglican |
| Website | www.frankfield.co.uk |
Frank Ernest Field DL (born 16 July 1942) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Birkenhead since 1979. From 1997 to 1998, he served as the Minister of Welfare Reform, before leaving the Government, following differences with Prime Minister Tony Blair. He went on to become one of the Labour government's most vocal critics from within the party on the backbenches. Field has campaigned against poverty and low pay throughout his career, proposing various welfare reforms over the years. In June 2015 Field was elected Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee.
Field was born in London, the second of three sons. His father was a labourer in Morgan Crucible's factory in Battersea and his mother was a teaching assistant. His parents were Tories "who believed in character and pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps". Field was educated at St Clement Danes School which was then located in Hammersmith, before studying economics at the University of Hull. In his youth, he was a member of the Conservative Party, but left because of his opposition to South Africa's apartheid system.
In 1964, he became a further-education teacher in Southwark and Hammersmith. Field served as a councillor in the London Borough of Hounslow from 1964 to 1968. He was a Director of the Child Poverty Action Group 1969–79, and of the Low Pay Unit (a body that campaigned to ensure wages councils protected the rights of workers in certain industries) during 1974–80.
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