Jim Knight
The Lord Knight of Weymouth | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Tony McNulty | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by |
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| Minister for the South West | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Ben Bradshaw | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Position abolished | ||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Schools and Learning | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 May 2006 – 5 June 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister |
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jacqui Smith | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Vernon Coaker | ||||||||||||||||||
| Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Biodiversity, Landscape and Rural Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 6 May 2005 – 5 May 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alun Michael | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Barry Gardiner | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 6 March 1965 Bexley,England | ||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour and Co-operative | ||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||
James Philip Knight, Baron Knight of Weymouth,PC,FRSA[1](born 6 March 1965) is a British politician who served asMinister for the South WestandMinister of State for Employment and Welfare Reformfrom 2009 to 2010. A member of theLabour PartyandCo-operative Party,he wasMember of Parliament(MP) forSouth Dorsetfrom2001to2010.
After losing his seat toRichard Draxof theConservative Party,it was announced Knight would be made alife peerin the2010 Dissolution Honours.He is now chief education and external officer atTESGlobal Ltd, and a visiting professor at theLondon Knowledge Labof theInstitute of Educationin London.
Education[edit]
Knight was educated atEltham College,an independent school inMottinghamin south east London, followed byFitzwilliam College, Cambridge,where he studied geography andsocial & political sciencesfrom 1984–87, gaining aBAHons.
Early career[edit]
Knight was manager of Central Studio, the arts centre ofQueen Mary's College, Basingstoke,from 1988–90.[2]From 1990–91, he was director of West Wiltshire Arts Centre Ltd, then director of Dentons Directories Ltd inWestburyfrom 1991–2001.[3]
Election history[edit]
Knight first stood for Parliament at the1997 general electionas theLabour Partycandidate forSouth Dorset,but narrowly lost by just 77 votes.[4]He was, however, elected on the same day toMendip District Council,on which he served until 2001; including as Labour group leader.[5]
At the2001 general election,he was elected as the Member of Parliament for South Dorset by 153 votes in the only Labour gain from theConservativesthat year.[6]At the2005 general election,Knight increased his majority to 1,812 votes, but with a small decrease in his share of the vote.[7]At the2010 general election,Knight lost his seat toConservativeRichard Draxby 7,443 votes after an 11.4% drop in his share of the vote.[8]
Knight was the campaign co-ordinator forEd Balls's unsuccessful Labour Party leadership campaign in 2010.[9]
Parliamentary career[edit]
Knight wasParliamentary Under-Secretary of Statefor Rural Affairs, Landscape and Biodiversity in theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairsfrom 2005–06. He then moved to becomeMinister of Statefor Schools in theDepartment for Education and Skills.On 28 June 2007, whenGordon Browndisbanded the department, Knight moved to the newly createdDepartment for Children, Schools and Families,as the Minister for Schools and Learners.[5]In October 2008 following the reshuffle, Knight became a member of thePrivy Council.[10]
In 2009, when MPs expenses were revealed following a leak in the Daily Telegraph,[11]Knight was ranked 171 out of 645 in the MPs' expenses list, claiming £155,987 in 2007/2008, compared with £137,970 in 2006/2007, of which £94,135 was for staff, £9,746 was for a communications allowance and £4,993 was for personal living expenses.[12]
In his firstParliament,Jim Knight generally voted in line with party policy, including all major votes such as those on theIraq warandtop-up fees.[13]
Jim Knight held the following positions:
- 2003–2004 – Parliamentary Private Secretary toRosie Wintertonthen Minister of State at theDepartment of Health
- 2004–2005 – Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Ministerial Team at theDepartment of Health
- 2005–2006 – Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs, the Landscape & Biodiversity
- 2006–2009 – Minister of State for Schools
- 2009–2010 – Minister of State for Employment
- 2009–2010 – Minister for the South West
After politics[edit]
Knight was created alife peeron 23 June 2010, taking the title Baron Knight of Weymouth, ofWeymouthin the County of Dorset.[14][15]
In April 2014 he stepped down from the Labour front bench in the House of Lords to take up a full-time role as managing director, online learning at TES Global Ltd, building an online professional development and training service for teachers. Knight was subsequently appointed chief education and external officer at TES Global.
In 2011, Knight was appointed as chair of digital and social inclusion charity Tinder Foundation (nowGood Things Foundation). He stood down as chair in 2016 but remains a patron of the Technology, Pedagogy and Education professional association. He is now Chair Emeritus of the Digital Poverty Alliance and co-owner of XRapid, an app that diagnoses malaria and is a board member of Apps for Good. He is also the deputy chair of the Nominet Trust,[citation needed]and an honorary associate of theNational Secular Society.[16]
References[edit]
- ^"List of members' Interests, Cabinet Office, March 2009"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 7 April 2010.Retrieved27 July2016.
- ^"Minister makes college comeback for big day".
- ^"Jim Knight".17 October 2002.
- ^p.308, Waller, Criddle, "The Almanac of British Politics", Psychology Press, 2002
- ^ab"Lord Knight of Weymouth".
- ^p.371, Waller, Criddle, "The Almanac of British Politics", Psychology Press, 2007
- ^p.372, Waller, Criddle, "The Almanac of British Politics", Psychology Press, 2007
- ^"Labour's Jim Knight loses to Tory".7 May 2010.
- ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 1 December 2017.Retrieved28 November2017.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^"Privy Counsellors | Privy Council".Archived fromthe originalon 13 September 2016.Retrieved28 November2017.
- ^"MPS' expenses: Full list of MPS investigated by the Telegraph".The Telegraph.16 January 2018.
- ^"WHAT IS THE COST OF OUR MPS?".Archived fromthe originalon 28 September 2011.Retrieved15 July2010.
- ^"The Public Whip — Voting Record - Jim Knight MP, South Dorset (11027)".
- ^"UK Government Web Archive"(PDF).webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
- ^"No. 59471".The London Gazette.28 June 2010. p. 12149.
- ^"Honorary Associates".secularism.org.uk.Retrieved1 August2019.
External links[edit]
- Jim Knight – Department for Children, Schools and Families
- Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Jim Knight MP
- TheyWorkForYou – Jim Knight MP
- 1965 births
- Living people
- Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
- Councillors in Somerset
- Labour Co-operative life peers
- Life peers created by Elizabeth II
- Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- People educated at Eltham College
- Politics of Dorset
- UK MPs 2001–2005
- UK MPs 2005–2010
- New Labour