Jack Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling

After the Labour landslide victory at the 1997 general election, he became Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and embarked on a modernisation programme for the Ministry. He worked to secure the lifting of the EU ban on the export of UK beef, and achieved some limited success on this.

He was shifted in 1998 to Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The media dubbed him cabinet enforcer, claiming that his role was effectively to sell the Government and its policies to the public and the media. He also led the government's work on modernising government, and chaired the Ministerial Committee on genetically modified foods and crops.

He retired from the Cabinet in 1999, and returned to the backbenches. He stood down from Parliament at the 2005 general election. Having represented the parliamentary constituency that includes Sellafield, the UK's largest nuclear facility for 35 years; he is a strong proponent of nuclear power and is the founding European legislative Chairman of the Transatlantic Nuclear Energy Forum.

In the 2005 Dissolution Honours, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Cunningham of Felling, of Felling in the County of Tyne and Wear.[3][4]

Lord Cunningham of Felling is still active in politics and chairs an all-party parliamentary committee to review the powers of the House of Lords.

Cunningham was suspended from the Labour Party whip, and the party, in June 2013 pending an investigation over claims he had offered to work for lobbyists.[5] He was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing by the parliamentary standards authorities, and had the Labour whip restored.

Research conducted by the Guardian newspaper revealed that Lord Cunningham claimed a total of £75,122 for 154 days’ attendance in 2017–2018.[6] This was the largest claim for attendance and travel expenses out of all the sitting members in the House of Lords. £23,108 of the £75,122 was claimed for air travel expenses.