The Lord Boateng | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| British High Commissioner to South Africa | |
| In office 14 March 2005 – 26 April 2009 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| President | |
| Preceded by | Ann Grant |
| Succeeded by | Nicola Brewer |
| Chief Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 29 May 2002 – 5 May 2005 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Andrew Smith |
| Succeeded by | Des Browne |
| Financial Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 8 June 2001 – 28 May 2002 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Stephen Timms |
| Succeeded by | Ruth Kelly |
| Minister of State for Home Affairs | |
| In office 27 October 1998 – 8 June 2001 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Alun Michael |
| Succeeded by | John Denham |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People | |
| In office 4 May 1997 – 27 October 1998 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Alistair Burt |
| Succeeded by | Margaret Hodge |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 1 July 2010 Life Peerage | |
| Member of Parliament forBrent South | |
| In office 11 June 1987 – 11 April 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Laurie Pavitt |
| Succeeded by | Dawn Butler |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1951-06-14)14 June 1951 (age 74) Hackney Central,London, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Janet, Lady Boateng |
| Children | 5 |
| Alma mater | University of Bristol |
Paul Yaw Boateng, Baron Boateng,CVO, PC, DL (born 14 June 1951) is a BritishLabour Partypolitician, a former civil rights lawyer and theMember of Parliament (MP) forBrent South from1987 to2005, becoming the UK's first BlackCabinet Minister in May 2002, when he was appointed asChief Secretary to the Treasury. Following his departure from theHouse of Commons, he served as theBritish High Commissioner to South Africa from March 2005 to May 2009. He was introduced as a member of theHouse of Lords on 1 July 2010.[1]
Boateng was born inHackney,London, of mixedGhanaian andScottish heritage; his family later moved to Ghana when Boateng was four years old.[2] His father,Kwaku Boateng, was a lawyer and Cabinet Minister duringKwame Nkrumah's regime. Boateng had his early education atGhana International School and attendedAccra Academy, a high school in Ghana. Boateng's life in Ghana came to an abrupt end after his father went to jail in 1966 following amilitary coup, which toppled theGhanaian government. His father was imprisoned without trial for four years. Boateng, then aged 15, and his sister, Rosemary, fled to theUK with their mother.
They settled inHemel Hempstead, where he attendedApsley Grammar School. He later read law at theUniversity of Bristol, where he resided atWills Hall and was a member of the Barneys Club. He began his career incivil rights, originally as asolicitor, though he later retrained as abarrister. He worked primarily on social and community cases, starting under renowned civil rights advocateBenedict Birnberg, involving women's rights, housing and police complaints, including a period from 1977 to 1981 as the legal advisor for theScrap Sus Campaign. Boateng was also an executive member of theNational Council for Civil Liberties. He representedCherry Groce, a mother of six who was shot and paralysed by a police officer during a raid on her home, in search of her son.[3] He became a partner at the firm B. M. Birnberg & Co., and as a barrister, he practised at EightKing's Bench Walk.
In 1981, Boateng was elected to representWalthamstow on theGreater London Council, of whichKen Livingstone became leader shortly after the election. As chair of the GLC's police committee and vice-chair of its ethnic minorities committee, Boateng advocated greater accountability in theMetropolitan Police and spoke out against racism in relation to their dealings with the African Caribbean and Asian communities.
He unsuccessfully stood as a parliamentary candidate forHertfordshire West (which included his former home town of Hemel Hempstead) at the1983 general election. He was elected at thegeneral election of 1987, when he became theMP forBrent South in succession toLaurence Pavitt, being one of the first non-white British MPs elected since the 1920s and the first black MP sincePeter McLagan in the 19th century, elected alongside fellowLabour Party Black Sections membersBernie Grant,Diane Abbott andKeith Vaz.[4] During his victory speech, Boateng said: "We can never be free in Brent until South Africa is free too." He then declared: "Today Brent South, tomorrowSoweto!"
Like many other members of Labour's left-wing in the 1980s, he became more moderate under the leadership ofNeil Kinnock. For instance, Boateng refused to join the Parliamentary Black Caucus founded by Diane Abbott, Bernie Grant, Keith Vaz and LordDavid Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead in 1988, which eventually collapsed. Kinnock rewarded Boateng by making him a junior Treasury spokesman in 1989, and then the first Black person to join thefront bench as a party spokesperson. Boateng's portfolio included economics, industrial strategies and corporate responsibility.[5] In 1992, he became shadow minister for theLord Chancellor's Department, a post he held until the1997 general election, where he was a strong advocate for increasingpro bono legal services among UK law firms.[6]
With Labour's landslide victory in 1997, Boateng became the UK's first black government minister asParliamentary Under-Secretary for Health, where he was responsible for social services, mental health and disabled people. In that position, he published guidelines to end the denial of adoptions purely on the basis of race.[7]
In 1998, Boateng became aMinister of State at theHome Office and subsequently became Number 2 Minister there. He was made aPrivy Counsellor in 1999. He earned a reputation for being tough on crime, particularly with regard to aggressive begging on the streets.[8] He also worked withEric Holder, then United States Deputy Attorney-General, andLouis Freeh, then Director of theFBI, on issues related to international drug trafficking and interdiction.[9]
Boateng's portfolio was expanded in 2000, and he became the first Minister for Young People, where his priority was to listen to and be a voice for Britain's youth.[10] He launched the Youth, Citizenship and Social Change programme, then the UK's largest research project designed to examine social exclusion and promoting citizenship among young people.[11] He also played a leading role in establishing and launching the £450,000,000 Children's Fund designed to tacklechild poverty.[12] Boateng's ministerial colleagues encouraged him to stand as the Labour candidate to be theMayor of London; however, he ruled himself out and strongly criticised his former GLC colleague Ken Livingstone. Boateng supported the candidacy ofFrank Dobson, with whom he had served in theDepartment of Health.[13]
In 2001, Boateng was madeFinancial Secretary to the Treasury, and was promoted to the position ofChief Secretary to the Treasury in May 2002, becoming Britain's first black cabinet minister. He was quoted as saying: "My colour is part of me but I do not choose to be defined by my colour." His appointment was greeted with praise by civil rights activists who said that his appointment gave hope to young black youths, and would inspire them to become involved in politics.[14] To commemorate this historic achievement, Parliament commissioned a painting of Boateng byJonathan Yeo, which is displayed in the collection of 21st Century Parliamentarians.[15]
In his role asChief Secretary to the Treasury, Boateng was responsible for finalising theSpending Review of 2002 and leading theSpending Review of 2004. Coordinating with SirPeter Gershon's report, Boateng announced in 2004 the government's efficiency programme to save more than £20,000,000,000 in the public sector.[16]
Boateng played a leading role in coordinating theEvery Child Matters policy paper, which called for the reform of children's services, including greater accountability and coordination among government agencies.[17] He was also a passionate advocate for increasing development aid to Africa and the developing nations. Foreshadowing his future role, he made numerous trips to Africa, meeting with business and government leaders in an effort to highlight the fact that international aid and theMillennium Development Goals were key priorities for the government.[18][19][20] Boateng also assistedGordon Brown in drafting the Africa Commission report, which called for increasing aid to Africa from Western nations to $50 billion a year.[21][22]
In March 2005, Boateng announced that he would not stand for re-election as an MP at thegeneral election.Dawn Butler was selected by theConstituency Labour Party to replace him and was elected in Brent South.
Due to Boateng's passion and enthusiasm for the government's Africa Commission Report and his associations with African leaders,[23]Tony Blair named him to be the nextHigh Commissioner to South Africa for a term of four years, making him the first black ambassador in British history.[21][24] Many Africans praised the appointment, stating that it was an important symbolic break from Britain's colonial past and saw it as a symbol of Tony Blair's commitment to the continent. Boateng is credited with building a close relationship with theAfrican National Congress government inSouth Africa, and it was reported that he privately worked to bring together bitter rivals in the crisis in Zimbabwe,[25] although he publicly condemned the Zimbabwean government's illegal occupation of land from white farmers[26] and the resulting turmoil, which Boateng labelled a "human rights crisis."[27]He has also addressed theWorld Economic Forum on issues concerning Africa.[28] In 2008, he participated in a number of talks with political leaders in the United States to encourage them to support theDoha Development Round trade negotiations that would open Western markets to goods from Africa and other developing countries.[29]
On 28 May 2010, it was announced in the2010 Dissolution Honours that Boateng would become a member of theHouse of Lords.[30] On 27 June 2010 he was createdBaron Boateng,of Akyem in theRepublic of Ghana and ofWembley in theLondon Borough of Brent[31] and was introduced to the Lords on 1 July 2010; he was supported byLord Ouseley andLord Janner. Boateng's maiden speech to the House of Lords highlighted the needs of poor and disadvantaged children, both in rural and urban areas. He called on the Government to examine the impact that theBudget and forthcomingSpending Review would have on children at risk.[32]In December 2011, he initiated a debate in theHouse of Lords to discuss cuts in funding to theCitizens Advice Bureau centres, which he vehemently opposed.[33]
He is a member ofLabour Friends of Israel.[34]
Boateng is an active Methodist and is alay preacher;[35] he served as a Methodist delegate to theWorld Council of Churches and as Vice-Moderator of its programme to combat racism. During the South African General Elections of 1994, which endedapartheid, he was a member of the delegation sent by the Association of Western European Parliamentarians Against Apartheid to monitor the elections.
He previously served on the board of theEnglish National Opera (1984 to 1997) and theEnglish Touring Opera (1993 to 1997). In 1993, he wrote the foreword to the HarperCollins collected works edition ofJane Austen'sSense and Sensibility.[36] He has been a commentator and television presenter on programmes includingChannel 4'sNothing But The Truth andBBC Radio 4'sLooking Forward to the Past.[37]
In 2011, he was a non-executive Director ofAegis Defence Services, a private security, military and risk management company founded by controversial arms dealer Lt ColonelTim Spicer, who was at the heart of theSandline affair[38][39] but had left by 2013.[40]
Boateng was serving on the executive board of the international Christian charityFood for the Hungry, in 2012[41] and is a trustee of the Planet Earth Institute along with chairmanÁlvaro Sobrinho.[42][43]
Boateng is a vice-president ofThe London Library.[44]
In 2014, he became the chair of charityBookAid International.[45]
In 2019, he became Chancellor of theUniversity of Greenwich.[46]
In 1988, theSouthern Christian Leadership Conference honoured Boateng as the recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award for his contributions to the field of civil rights.[47]
In 2003, Boateng was named on the list of "100 Great Black Britons".[48]
He received honoraryDoctor of Law degrees fromWest London University on 25 July 2018,Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) in 2004[49] and theUniversity of Bristol in 2007.[50]
Boateng was appointedCommander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in the2023 Birthday Honours for services as a trustee of theDuke of Edinburgh's International Award.[51]
Boateng is married to Janet, a former councillor inLambeth.[52] They have two sons and three daughters.[53] In November 2011, Boateng's son Benjamin, then aged 27, was jailed for almost four years for a sex attack on a woman.[54]
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| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBrent South 1987–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for the Disabled 1997–1998 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Home Affairs 1998–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Financial Secretary to the Treasury 2001–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2002–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Ann Grant | British High Commissioner to South Africa 2005–2009 | Succeeded by |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron Boateng | Followed by |
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| International | |
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| People | |
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