Charlie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton

The Right Honourable The Lord Falconer of Thoroton PC KC
Studio portrait, 2017
Secretary of State for Justice[a] Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
In office 12 June 2003 – 28 June 2007
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	Tony Blair
Preceded by	The Lord Irvine of Lairg[b]
Succeeded by	Jack Straw
Junior ministerial offices Minister of State for Criminal Justice, Sentencing and Law Reform In office 29 May 2002 – 12 June 2003 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by David Maclean[c] Succeeded by The Baroness Scotland of Asthal Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Regeneration In office 11 June 2001 – 29 May 2002 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Nick Raynsford Succeeded by The Lord Rooker Minister of State for the Cabinet Office In office 28 July 1998 – 11 June 2001 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Office established Succeeded by The Baroness Morgan of Huyton Barbara Roche Solicitor General for England and Wales In office 6 May 1997 – 28 July 1998 Prime Minister Tony Blair Preceded by Derek Spencer Succeeded by Ross Cranston
Shadow cabinet portfolios Shadow Attorney General In office 6 April 2020 – 29 November 2021 Leader Keir Starmer Preceded by The Baroness Chakrabarti Succeeded by Emily Thornberry In office 8 October 2010 – 6 September 2012 Leader Ed Miliband Preceded by The Lord Henley The Baroness Seccombe Succeeded by The Lord Beecham Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Shadow Lord High Chancellor In office 11 May 2015 – 26 June 2016 Leader Harriet Harman Jeremy Corbyn Preceded by Sadiq Khan Succeeded by Richard Burgon
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed life peerage 15 May 1997
Personal details
Born	Charles Leslie Falconer (1951-11-19) 19 November 1951 (age 72) Edinburgh, Scotland
Political party	Labour
Children	Hamish, William "Rocco", Rosie, Johnny
Alma mater	Queens' College, Cambridge

Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, PC, KC (born 19 November 1951) is a British Labour politician, peer and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice^[a] under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2003 to 2007.

Born in Edinburgh, Falconer read law at Queens' College, Cambridge and then worked as a barrister in London. During his time as a barrister, he was a flatmate of Tony Blair. Although Blair went into politics, Falconer focused on his legal career and became a Queen's Counsel. After Blair was elected as Prime Minister, Falconer was created a life peer and made Solicitor General for England and Wales. He is the only known person to have served as Solicitor General as a peer. Later, he served as Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Minister of State for Housing, Planning and Regeneration and Minister of State for Criminal Justice, Sentencing and Law Reform respectively.

Falconer became the Lord Chancellor and the first Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs in 2003, and would go on to become the first Secretary of State for Justice in a 2007 reorganisation and enlargement of the portfolio of the Department for Constitutional Affairs. He held this role for over a month until Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in June 2007. Falconer was named Shadow Justice Secretary under the acting leadership of Harriet Harman in 2015, and continued in this role after the election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the party, until he resigned on 26 June 2016. He was appointed as Shadow Attorney General in the Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer in April 2020, and stepped down from the role in November 2021.

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