Charles Falconer, Lord Falconer of Thoroton

Charles Falconer, Lord Falconer of Thoroton (born November 19, 1951, Edinburgh, Scotland) was a British politician whose term as lord chancellor (2003–07) was marked by reform of the legal system of the United Kingdom.

Falconer was educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond (now Glenalmond College), in Scotland and studied law at Queens’ College, Cambridge. As a boy, he made the acquaintance of Tony Blair (future prime minister of the United Kingdom), and in the 1960s the two even competed to date the same young woman. By 1976 they were both young barristers working in the same building. Blair moved into Falconer’s apartment in south London for a time, and both became active in the same local branch of the Labour Party.

In the 1980s, after Blair had entered politics, Falconer continued to pursue a successful legal career, specializing in commercial law. The two remained close; they bought houses near each other in Islington in north London and often dined together. In 1991, at the unusually young age of 40, Falconer was appointed Queen’s Counsel (the official designation of senior barristers). Ahead of the 1997 general election (with a Labour government a near certainty after 18 years in opposition), he sought to run for Parliament, but he was turned down because he sent his children to private fee-paying schools—something that active local Labour Party members overwhelmingly deplored.

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Following Labour’s return to power in that election, Blair arranged for a life peerage for his old friend and appointed him solicitor general. In 1998 Falconer was moved to the Cabinet Office, where he came to public attention as the minister responsible for the controversial Millennium Dome. He defended a project that many considered indefensible with good humour, a stance that evoked admiration and criticism in equal measure. After brief terms as housing minister (2001) and minister for criminal justice (2002–03), on June 12, 2003, Falconer was named to the post of lord chancellor. On the same day, Blair announced the abolition of that position (first created in 605) and its replacement by the role of secretary of state for constitutional affairs. Falconer, as the 259th and last lord chancellor, as well as the first constitutional affairs secretary, was given the task of introducing the legislation for the change. Within Parliament and the legal profession, there was widespread support in principle for reform. New measures would finally separate politics and the judiciary and end the ability of a government minister to appoint senior judges. Blair’s appointment of his friend badly weakened the impact of a reform designed to curb patronage, but Falconer himself attracted little criticism: his skills, integrity, and easygoing style were admired across the political spectrum.

The reforms overseen by Falconer included the creation of a new supreme court. Although he ultimately failed to abolish the position of the lord chancellor, it was redefined by constitutional reform in 2006: the lord chief justice took over many of the judicial aspects of the role, and the lord chancellor was no longer to serve as speaker of the House of Lords. Falconer also dealt with interpretation of the Human Rights Act in regard to treatment of those suspected of terrorist activities—a controversial issue in the wake of the 2005 bombings of London’s Underground train system.

In May 2007, after the short-lived post of constitutional affairs secretary was abolished, Falconer became secretary of state for justice. A month later, after Gordon Brown became prime minister, Falconer was replaced by Jack Straw. Falconer took a position with a private American firm, wrote articles, and frequently appeared as a radio commentator. He also became chair of the John Smith Memorial Trust, honouring the late Labour Party leader. During Conservative David Cameron’s tenure as prime minister, Falconer served as shadow spokesman for justice (2010–15), shadow spokesman for constitutional and deputy priministerial issues (2011–15), and shadow lord chancellor and shadow secretary of state for justice (2015–16). In 2019 Conservative Boris Johnson became prime minister, and the following year Falconer was appointed shadow spokesman for justice and shadow attorney general. He served in those posts until 2021.