David Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere

Clark sought reselection by the South Shields Constituency Labour Party to contest the 2001 general election for the seat. However, control of the constituency Party had swung in favour of a vocal group of critics, led by a faction within South Tyneside Council, who feared Clark actually intended to stand down when the General Election was called, thus enabling the Labour Party's National Executive Committee to parachute a favoured candidate into the Constituency, historically a safe Labour seat. During the reselection contest Clark vigorously denied the claims and told the Shields Gazette newspaper advising he had every intention of contesting the general election. In the event, Clark won reselection thanks to the support of regional trade union barons.

When Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the date of the general election in 2001, Clark immediately stood down and the Labour Party NEC moved swiftly, New Labour rising star David Miliband was selected to fight the seat. Miliband, an Oxford graduate from London was seen locally as a parachute candidate.

Within weeks of the Labour Party winning the 2001 general election, Clark was created a life peer on 2 July 2001 as Baron Clark of Windermere, of Windermere in the County of Cumbria and now sits in the House of Lords. He was also appointed to the paid post of chairman of the Forestry Commission.

Two years later, on 23 October 2000, he stood for the job of Speaker of the House of Commons in succession to Betty Boothroyd but was unsuccessful (192 votes in favour, 257 against) and his backbench colleague, Michael Martin was elected.

He was awarded Freedom of the Borough of South Tyneside in February 1999, and is a long-standing fan of Carlisle United Football Club, of which he is a director. He served as a deputy lieutenant of Cumbria from 2007 to 2014. Clark was chair of the Atlantic Council of the UK (1998–2003), and has been Leader of the North Atlantic Assembly since 2001, having been a member since 1980. He was a member of the executive of the National Trust from 1980 until 1994. He was chair of the Forestry Commission from 2004 to 2009; a non-executive director of the Homeowners Friendly Society, the Thales Group, and the UK Friendly Insurance Services. He is a trustee of the Vindolanda Trust, the History of Parliament Trust, and the Gravetye Trust, and a patron of the UK Defence Forum. He currently chairs the Lake District National Park Partnership.

Clark's long-standing position as a member of Labour's frontbench team meant Tony Blair was obliged to appoint him to the Cabinet when the party was elected to government in May 1997. However, he was not given a senior or middle-ranking position, and instead was given the office of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with responsibility for producing a White Paper on Freedom of Information which was published in July 1998 and ultimately led to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Heavily involved and interested in Bosnia, Clark was forced to apologise for not declaring a 1993 meeting with Radovan Karadžić in the Register of Members' Interests, as he "thought it had been a United Nations-funded trip".

Clark was regularly elected to the Shadow Cabinet while the Labour Party was in opposition. He held a number of Shadow portfolios, including Agriculture Fisheries & Food (1972–74), Defence (1980–81), Food Agricultural and Rural Affairs (1987–92), and Shadow Defence Secretary (1992–97). Although Clark was not a strong supporter of New Labour, he did support Tony Blair's bid for the party leadership in 1994.

He was first elected as a member of parliament (MP) for Colne Valley which he represented from 1970 to 1974. After losing in the February 1974 general election, he became a Senior Lecturer in Politics at Huddersfield Polytechnic (now the University of Huddersfield) until 1979 when he returned to the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for South Shields in Tyne and Wear which he held until he stood down at the 2001 general election.

He married Christine Kirkby, in 1970 and they have one daughter and one son, Catherine and Thomas. He lives in Windermere, and lists his recreations as gardening, fell walking, reading, and watching football. He is a director of Carlisle United Football Club.

He was a lecturer in Government and Administration at the University of Salford from 1965 to 1970 and a tutor at University of Manchester from 1967 to 1970.

He attended the University of Manchester as a mature student from 1960, gaining a BA in Economics, then later an M.Sc. He was President of the Students' Union. In 1978, Clark gained a PhD from the University of Sheffield.

Clark was born in Castle Douglas, Scotland. He attended Bowness Elementary School and Windermere Grammar School in Cumbria. After leaving school, Clark worked as a forester and then as a Laboratory Assistant in a textile mill before becoming a student teacher in 1959.

He joined the Labour Party in 1959 and the Co-operative Party two years later. He stood unsuccessfully for Manchester Withington at the 1966 General Election, but was defeated by the incumbent Conservative, Sir Robert Cary.

David George Clark, Baron Clark of Windermere PC DL (born 19 October 1939) is a British Labour Party politician, former cabinet minister and author.