View source for Kenneth Clarke

{{short description|British politician}}
{{about|the politician|the art historian|Kenneth Clark|other people|Kenneth Clark (disambiguation)}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name = The Lord Clarke of Nottingham
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CH|KC|PC}}
| image = Official portrait of Mr Kenneth Clarke crop 2.jpg
| caption = Official portrait, 2017
| alt = Kenneth Clarke in 2017
| office1 = [[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|Minister without Portfolio]]
| primeminister1 = [[David Cameron]]
| term_start1 = 4 September 2012
| term_end1 = 14 July 2014
| predecessor1 = [[Sayeeda Warsi, Baroness Warsi|The Baroness Warsi]]
| successor1 = [[Robert Halfon]] (2015)
| office2 = [[Secretary of State for Justice]]<br />[[Lord Chancellor]]<!-- Please do not change to Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain; [[WP:COMMONNAME]] is Lord Chancellor.-->
| primeminister2 = David Cameron
| term_start2 = 12 May 2010
| term_end2 = 4 September 2012
| predecessor2 = [[Jack Straw]]
| successor2 = [[Chris Grayling]]
| office3 = [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
| primeminister3 = [[John Major]]
| term_start3 = 27 May 1993
| term_end3 = 2 May 1997
| predecessor3 = [[Norman Lamont]]
| successor3 = [[Gordon Brown]]
| office4 = [[Home Secretary]]
| primeminister4 = John Major
| term_start4 = 10 April 1992
| term_end4 = 27 May 1993
| predecessor4 = [[Kenneth Baker, Baron Baker of Dorking|Kenneth Baker]]
| successor4 = [[Michael Howard]]
| office5 = [[Secretary of State for Education and Science]]
| primeminister5 = {{ubl|[[Margaret Thatcher]]|John Major}}
| term_start5 = 2 November 1990
| term_end5 = 10 April 1992
| predecessor5 = [[John MacGregor, Baron MacGregor of Pulham Market|John MacGregor]]
| successor5 = [[John Patten, Baron Patten|John Patten]] (Education)
| office6 = [[Secretary of State for Health]]
| primeminister6 = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start6 = 25 July 1988
| term_end6 = 2 November 1990
| predecessor6 = [[John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh|John Moore]] (Social Services)
| successor6 = [[William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill|William Waldegrave]]
| office7 = [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]]
| primeminister7 = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start7 = 13 July 1987
| term_end7 = 25 July 1988
| predecessor7 = [[Norman Tebbit]]
| successor7 = [[Tony Newton, Baron Newton of Braintree|Tony Newton]]
{{collapsed infobox section begin |Ministerial offices<br> {{nobold|1974–1987}}
 |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
|office8         = [[Minister of State for Trade and Industry]]
|primeminister8  = Margaret Thatcher
|term_start8     = 13 July 1987
|term_end8       = 25 July 1988
|predecessor8    = [[Giles Shaw]]
|successor8      = [[Eric Forth]]
|office9         = [[Paymaster General]]
|primeminister9  = Margaret Thatcher
|term_start9     = 2 September 1985
|term_end9       = 13 July 1987
|predecessor9    = [[John Gummer, Baron Deben|John Gummer]]
|successor9      = [[Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville|Peter Brooke]]
|office10        = [[Minister of State for Employment]]
|primeminister10 = Margaret Thatcher
|term_start10    = 2 September 1985
|term_end10      = 13 July 1987
|predecessor10   = [[Peter Morrison]]
|successor10     = [[John Cope, Baron Cope of Berkeley|John Cope]]
|office11        = [[Minister of State for Health (UK)|Minister of State for Health]]
|primeminister11 = Margaret Thatcher
|term_start11    = 5 March 1982 
|term_end11      = 2 September 1985
|predecessor11   = [[Gerard Vaughan (British politician)|Gerard Vaughan]]
|successor11     = [[Bernard John Hayhoe, Baron Hayhoe|Barney Hayhoe]]
|office12        = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport]]{{efn|Parliamentary Secretary (1979–81)}}
|primeminister12 = Margaret Thatcher
|term_start12    = 7 May 1979
|term_end12      = 5 March 1982
|predecessor12   = [[John Horam]]
|successor12     = [[Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker of Wallasey|Lynda Chalker]]
|office13        = [[Lord Commissioner of the Treasury]]
|primeminister13 = [[Edward Heath]]
|term_start13    = 8 January 1974
|term_end13      = 4 March 1974
|predecessor13   = [[Hugh Rossi]]
|successor13     = [[Donald Coleman]]
{{collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |[[Shadow Cabinet]] posts
| cont=yes |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
|office14        = [[Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills]]
|leader14        = David Cameron
|term_start14    = 19 January 2009
|term_end14      = 11 May 2010
|predecessor14   = [[Alan Duncan]] (Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform)
|successor14     = [[Pat McFadden (British politician)|Pat McFadden]]
|office15        = [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer]]
|leader15        = John Major
|term_start15    = 2 May 1997
|term_end15      = 11 June 1997
|predecessor15   = Gordon Brown
|successor15     = [[Peter Lilley]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
{{collapsed infobox section begin |last=yes |Parliamentary offices
| cont=yes |titlestyle=border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes
| office = [[Father of the House (United Kingdom)|Father of the House of Commons]]
| 1blankname = Speaker
| 1namedata = {{ubl|[[John Bercow]]|[[Lindsay Hoyle]]}}
| term_start = 26 February 2017
| term_end = 6 November 2019
| predecessor = [[Gerald Kaufman]]
| successor = [[Peter Bottomley]]
| office1 = [[Member of the House of Lords]]
| status1 = [[Lord Temporal]]
| termlabel1 = [[Life peer]]age
| term_start1 = 17 September 2020
| term_end1 = 
|office2 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br>for [[Rushcliffe (UK Parliament constituency)|Rushcliffe]]
|term_start2 = 18 June 1970
|term_end2 = 6 November 2019
|predecessor2 = [[Antony Gardner]]
|successor2 = [[Ruth Edwards]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
}}
|birth_name       = Kenneth Harry Clarke
|birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1940|7|2|df=y}}
|birth_place      = [[West Bridgford]], England
|death_date       = 
|death_place      = 
| signature =
| party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]]{{efn|Parliamentary whip in the [[British House of Commons]] suspended from September to November 2019}}
| otherparty       = 
|spouse           = {{marriage|Gillian Edwards|1964|July 2015|end=d}}
|children         = 2
|alma_mater       = [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]]
}}

'''Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CH|PC|KC}} (born 2 July 1940),<ref>{{cite web|title=Mr Kenneth Clarke (Hansard)|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-kenneth-clarke/index.html|access-date=11 May 2021|website=api.parliament.uk|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413232331/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mr-kenneth-clarke/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> often known as '''Ken Clarke''', is a British politician who served as [[Home Secretary]] from 1992 to 1993 and [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as deputy chair of [[British American Tobacco]] from 1998 to 2007.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kenneth Clarke - TobaccoTactics|url=https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/kenneth-clarke/|access-date=13 October 2021|website=tobaccotactics.org|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027185110/https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/kenneth-clarke/|url-status=live}}</ref> A member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], he was [[Member of Parliament (UK)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Rushcliffe (UK Parliament constituency)|Rushcliffe]] from [[1970 United Kingdom general election|1970]] to [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019]] and was [[Father of the House (United Kingdom)|Father of the House of Commons]] between 2017 and 2019. The President of the [[Tory Reform Group]] since 1997, he is a [[one-nation conservative]] who identifies with [[economic liberalism|economically]] and [[social liberalism|socially liberal]] views.

Clarke served in the [[UK Cabinet|Cabinets]] of [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[John Major]] as [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]] from 1987 to 1988, [[Secretary of State for Health|Health Secretary]] from 1988 to 1990, and [[Secretary of State for Education|Education Secretary]] from 1990 to 1992. He held two of the [[Great Offices of State]] as [[Home Secretary]] and [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. He contested the [[Leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party leadership]] three times—in [[1997 Conservative Party leadership election|1997]], [[2001 Conservative Party leadership election|2001]] and [[2005 Conservative Party leadership election|2005]]—being defeated each time. Opinion polls indicated he was more popular with the general public than with his party, whose generally [[Euroscepticism|Eurosceptic]] stance did not chime with his pro-European views. Under the [[Cameron-Clegg coalition|coalition government]] of [[David Cameron]], he returned to the Cabinet as [[Secretary of State for Justice|Justice Secretary]] and [[Lord Chancellor]] from 2010 to 2012 and [[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|Minister without Portfolio]] from 2012 to 2014. He was also the [[Cabinet Office|United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion]] from 2010 to 2014.

[[2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs|The Conservative whip was withdrawn]] from him in September 2019 because he and 20 other MPs voted with the Opposition on a motion; for the remainder of his time in Parliament he sat as an [[independent politician|independent]], though still on the government benches. He stood down as an MP at the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]] and was thereafter appointed by [[Boris Johnson]] as a Conservative Member of the [[House of Lords]] in September 2020.

Clarke is President of the [[Conservative Group for Europe|Conservative Europe Group]], Co-President of the pro-EU body [[British Influence]] and Vice-President of the [[European Movement UK]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Structure of the European Movement UK | url = http://www.euromove.org.uk/index.php?id=6329 | access-date = 22 October 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090614082047/http://www.euromove.org.uk/index.php?id=6329 | archive-date = 14 June 2009 | url-status = live }}</ref> Described by the press as a 'Big Beast' of British politics, his total time as a minister is the fifth-longest in the modern era. He has spent over 20 years serving under [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Ministers]] [[Edward Heath]], Margaret Thatcher, John Major and David Cameron. He was one of only five ministers ([[Tony Newton, Baron Newton of Braintree|Tony Newton]], [[Malcolm Rifkind]], [[Patrick Mayhew]] and [[Lynda Chalker]] are the others) to serve throughout the whole 18 years of the Thatcher—Major Governments, which represents the longest uninterrupted ministerial service in Britain since [[Lord Palmerston]] in the early 19th century.

==Early life and education==
Clarke was born in [[West Bridgford]], Nottinghamshire, and was christened with the same name as his father, Kenneth Clarke, a Nottinghamshire mining electrician and later a watchmaker and jeweller.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/people/kenneth-clarke|title=The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke QC MP – GOV.UK|work=[[Government of the United Kingdom]]|access-date=15 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140718112912/https://www.gov.uk/government/people/kenneth-clarke|archive-date=18 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> He won a scholarship to attend the independent [[Nottingham High School]]<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.nottinghampost.com/School-Days-Ken-Clarke/story-21206932-detail/story.html |title=My School Days: Ken Clarke |work=Nottingham Post |date=9 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140811102726/http://www.nottinghampost.com/School-Days-Ken-Clarke/story-21206932-detail/story.html |archive-date=11 August 2014}}</ref> before going to read for a [[law degree]] at [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]], where he graduated with an [[British undergraduate degree classification#Degree classification|upper second honours degree]]. Clarke initially held [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] sympathies, and his grandfather was a [[Communism|Communist]], but while at Cambridge he joined the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].

As Chairman of the [[Cambridge University Conservative Association]] (CUCA), Clarke invited former British Fascist leader [[Sir Oswald Mosley]] to speak for two years in succession, prompting some Jewish students (including his future successor at the Home Office, [[Michael Howard]]) to resign from CUCA in protest.<ref>{{cite news |title= Howard's way |work=The Guardian |date=27 March 2005 |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/27/conservatives.election2005 |access-date=24 September 2008 |location = London |first=Andrew |last=Anthony |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060112085706/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/conservatives/story/0,9061,1446073,00.html |archive-date=12 January 2006 |url-status=live }}</ref> Howard then defeated Clarke in one election for the presidency of the [[Cambridge Union]], but Clarke became [[List of Presidents of The Cambridge Union|President of the Cambridge Union]] a year later, being elected on 6 March 1963 by a majority of 56 votes. Clarke opposed the admission of women to the Union, and is quoted as saying upon his election, "The fact that Oxford has admitted them does not impress me at all. Cambridge should wait a year to see what happens before any decision is taken on admitting them."<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |location= London |title=News in Brief |date=7 March 1963 |page=5 |issue=55643}}</ref>

In an early-1990s documentary, journalist [[Michael Cockerell]] played to Clarke some tape recordings of Clarke speaking at the Cambridge Union as a young man, and he displayed amusement at hearing his then-stereotypical upper class accent. Clarke is deemed one of the [[Cambridge Mafia]], a group of prominent Conservative politicians who were educated at Cambridge in the 1960s. After leaving Cambridge, Clarke was [[Call to the bar|called to the bar]] in 1963 at [[Gray's Inn]], and was made [[Queen's Counsel]] in 1980.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Clarke_Kenneth.aspx |title= Kenneth Clarke |publisher= Conservative Party |access-date= 19 January 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130212055656/http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Clarke_Kenneth.aspx |archive-date= 12 February 2013 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

==Parliamentary career==
Clarke sought election to the House of Commons almost immediately after leaving university. His political career began by contesting the Labour stronghold of [[Mansfield (UK Parliament constituency)|Mansfield]] at the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964]] and [[1966 United Kingdom general election|1966]] elections. In [[1970 United Kingdom general election|June 1970]], just before his 30th birthday, he won the [[East Midlands]] constituency of [[Rushcliffe (UK Parliament constituency)|Rushcliffe]] in Nottinghamshire, south of [[Nottingham]], from Labour MP [[Antony Gardner|Tony Gardner]]. From 2017 to 2019 he was [[Father of the House (United Kingdom)|Father of the House]]. Following his expulsion from the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] in September 2019, he became the first Independent MP to hold the position of Father of the House since [[Clement Tudway]], who died in office as MP For [[Wells (UK Parliament constituency)|Wells]] in 1815.

Clarke was soon appointed a Government [[whip (politics)|whip]], and served as such from 1972 to 1974; he, with the assistance of Labour rebels, helped ensure Edward Heath's government won key votes on British entry into the [[European Communities]] (which later evolved into the [[European Union]]). Even though Clarke opposed the election of Margaret Thatcher as Conservative Party Leader in 1975, he was appointed as her Industry Spokesman from 1976 to 1979, and then occupied a range of ministerial positions during her premiership.

He is the subject of a [[portrait]] [[oil painting|in oil]] commissioned by Parliament.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/worksofart/artwork/james-lloyd/portrait-of-kenneth-clarke-mp/6558|title=Artwork – Portrait of Kenneth Clarke MP|access-date=28 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728080013/http://www.parliament.uk/worksofart/artwork/james-lloyd/portrait-of-kenneth-clarke-mp/6558|archive-date=28 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Murphy">{{cite news |url= https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/exclusive-mps-splash-out-250000-of-public-money-on-vanity-portraits-9056130.html |title=MPs splash out £250,000 of public money on vanity portraits |last=Murphy |first=Joe |date=13 January 2014 |work= London Evening Standard |access-date=13 January 2014}}</ref>

=== Early ministerial positions ===
Clarke first served in the government of Margaret Thatcher as [[Parliamentary Secretary]] for [[Department for Transport|Transport]] (1979–81) and [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State]] for [[Department for Transport|Transport]] (1981–82), and then [[Minister of State]] for [[Department of Health|Health]] (1982–85).

He joined the Cabinet as [[Paymaster-General]] and Employment Minister (1985–87) (his Secretary of State, [[David Young, Baron Young of Graffham|Lord Young of Graffham]], sat in the Lords), and served as [[Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster]] and Minister of the [[Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)|DTI]] (1987–88) with responsibility for Inner Cities.  While in that position, Clarke announced the sale to [[British Aerospace]] of the [[Rover Group]], a new name for [[British Leyland]], which had been nationalised in 1975 by the Government of [[Harold Wilson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1988/mar/29/rover-group-privatisation|title=Rover Group (Privatisation) (Hansard, 29 March 1988)|access-date=22 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322182338/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1988/mar/29/rover-group-privatisation|archive-date=22 March 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Health Secretary ===
Clarke was appointed the first Secretary of State for [[Department of Health|Health]] when the department was created out of the former [[Department of Health and Social Security]] in July 1988.<ref>John Campbell, ''Margaret Thatcher, Volume Two: The Iron Lady'' (London: Jonathan Cape, 2003), p. 552.</ref> Clarke, with backing from John Major, persuaded Thatcher to accept the controversial "[[History of the National Health Service (England)#Thatcher government reforms|internal market]]" concept to the [[National Health Service (England)|NHS]].<ref>Campbell, p. 552.</ref><ref name="profile">{{cite news | title = Contender: Kenneth Clarke | work = BBC News | date = 2 August 2005 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4652729.stm | access-date = 24 September 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070923053943/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4652729.stm | archive-date = 23 September 2007 | url-status = live }}</ref> Clarke claimed that he had persuaded Thatcher to introduce internal competition in the NHS as an alternative to her preference for introducing a system of compulsory health insurance, which he opposed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/19/kenneth-clarke-views-no-10 |title=Kenneth Clarke: I had a lot of views, but they didn't coincide with No 10's |last=Rawnsley |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Rawnsley |date=19 July 2014 |work=The Observer |location=London |access-date=20 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720130636/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/19/kenneth-clarke-views-no-10 |archive-date=20 July 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>

He told his biographer Malcolm Balen: "[[John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh|John Moore]] was pursuing a line which Margaret [Thatcher] was very keen on, which made everything compulsory medical insurance. I was bitterly opposed to that...The [[Health care in the United States|American system]] is...the world's worst health service – expensive, inadequate and with a lot of rich doctors".<ref>Malcolm Balen, ''Kenneth Clarke'' (London: Fourth Estate, 1994), p. 166.</ref> In her memoirs Thatcher claimed that Clarke, although "a firm believer in state provision", was "an extremely effective Health minister – tough in dealing with vested interests and trade unions, direct and persuasive in his exposition of government policy".<ref>Margaret Thatcher, ''The Downing Street Years'' (London: HarperCollins, 1993), p. 614.</ref>

In January 1989, Clarke's White Paper ''Working for Patients'' appeared; this advocated giving hospitals the right to become self-governing [[NHS trust|NHS Trusts]], taxpayer-funded but with control over their budgets and independent of the [[Regional health authority (UK)|regional health authorities]].<ref>Campbell, pp. 552–553.</ref> It also proposed that doctors be given the option to become "[[GP Fundholding|GP fundholders]]". This would grant doctors control of their own budgets in the belief that they would purchase the most effective services for their patients. Instead of doctors automatically sending patients to the nearest hospital, they would be able to choose where they were treated. In this way, money would follow the patient and the most efficient hospitals would receive the greatest funding.<ref name="Campbell">Campbell, p. 553.</ref>

This was not well received by doctors and their trade union, the [[British Medical Association]], launched a poster campaign against Clarke's reforms, claiming that the NHS was "underfunded, undermined and under threat". They also called the new GP contracts "Stalinist". A March 1990 opinion poll commissioned by the BMA showed that 73% believed that the NHS was not safe in Conservative hands.<ref name="Campbell"/> Clarke later claimed that the BMA was "the most unscrupulous trade union I have ever dealt with and I've dealt with every trade union across the board".<ref name="Campbell"/> Although Thatcher tried to halt the reforms just before they were introduced, Clarke successfully argued that they were necessary to demonstrate the government's commitment to the NHS. Thatcher told Clarke: "It is ''you'' I'm holding responsible if ''my'' NHS reforms don't work".<ref name="Campbell"/>

By 1994 almost all hospitals had opted to become trusts but GP fundholding was much less popular.<ref>Campbell, pp. 553–554.</ref> There were allegations that fundholders received more funding than non-fundholders, creating a two-tier system. GP fundholding was abolished by Labour in 1997 and replaced by Primary Care Groups.<ref name="Campbell2">Campbell, p. 554.</ref> According to [[John Campbell (biographer)|John Campbell]], by "the mid-1990s the NHS was treating more patients, more efficiently than in the 1980s...the system was arguably better managed and more accountable than before".<ref name="Campbell2"/> Studies suggest that while the competition introduced in the "internal market" system resulted in shorter waiting times it also caused a reduction in the quality of care for patients.<ref>{{cite journal|date=1 July 2004|title=Does competition between hospitals improve the quality of care?: Hospital death rates and the NHS internal market|journal=Journal of Public Economics|volume=88|issue=7–8|pages=1247–1272|doi=10.1016/S0047-2727(02)00216-5|issn=0047-2727|author=Propper Carol, Burgess Simon, Green Katherine}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Propper|first1=Carol|last2=Burgess|first2=Simon|last3=Gossage|first3=Denise|date=1 January 2008|title=Competition and Quality: Evidence from the NHS Internal Market 1991–9*|journal=The Economic Journal|volume=118|issue=525|pages=138–170|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02107.x|s2cid=709809|issn=1468-0297|url=http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/CMPO/workingpapers/wp77.pdf|access-date=14 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204210632/http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/CMPO/workingpapers/wp77.pdf|archive-date=4 February 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>

Clarke has been the subject of criticism over the decades for his involvement in the [[Contaminated blood scandal in the United Kingdom|contaminated blood scandal]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hattenstone|first1=Simon|title=Britain's contaminated blood scandal: 'I need them to admit they killed our son'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/03/contaminated-blood-scandal-thousands-haemophiliacs-died-simon-hattenstone|website=The Guardian|date=3 March 2018|access-date=7 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308041728/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/03/contaminated-blood-scandal-thousands-haemophiliacs-died-simon-hattenstone|archive-date=8 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Contaminated blood 'cover-up' revealed in Cabinet papers|url=https://news.sky.com/story/contaminated-blood-cover-up-revealed-in-cabinet-papers-11097117|website=Sky News|access-date=7 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308045222/https://news.sky.com/story/contaminated-blood-cover-up-revealed-in-cabinet-papers-11097117|archive-date=8 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Johnson|first1=Diana|title=Contaminated Blood – Hansard Online|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-04-25/debates/3AE7573D-7990-4A16-B375-A1AB786F90AE/ContaminatedBlood#contribution-DB555CA7-6F41-4ADB-984E-A7807B56F226|website=hansard.parliament.uk|access-date=7 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905155012/http://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2017-04-25/debates/3AE7573D-7990-4A16-B375-A1AB786F90AE/ContaminatedBlood#contribution-DB555CA7-6F41-4ADB-984E-A7807B56F226|archive-date=5 September 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> It was the largest loss-of-life disaster in Britain since the 1950s and claimed the lives of thousands of [[haemophilia]]cs.<ref>{{cite web|last1=May|first1=Theresa|title=PM statement on contaminated blood inquiry: 11 July 2017 – GOV.UK|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-statement-on-contaminated-blood-inquiry-11-july-2017|website=www.gov.uk|access-date=7 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612151657/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-statement-on-contaminated-blood-inquiry-11-july-2017|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Theresa May]] ordered a [[public inquiry]] into the contaminated blood scandal in July 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Home – Infected Blood Inquiry|url=https://www.infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk/|website=Infected Blood Inquiry|access-date=7 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180308042510/https://www.infectedbloodinquiry.org.uk/|archive-date=8 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2021, Clarke gave oral evidence to the inquiry with his demeanour being widely branded "arrogant, pompous and contemptuous" by the press. It was reported that he argued with inquiry counsel, refused to apologise and at one point even walked out while the chairman, Sir [[Brian Langstaff]], was speaking.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ken Clarke criticised for showing 'contempt' at infected blood inquiry |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/27/ken-clarke-says-not-responsible-blood-products-scandal |work=The Guardian |date=27 July 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Infected Blood Inquiry: Former health secretary Ken Clarke failed to present evidence demanded by victims, lawyer says |url=https://news.sky.com/story/infected-blood-inquiry-former-health-secretary-ken-clarke-failed-to-present-evidence-demanded-by-victims-lawyer-says-12365615 |work=Sky News |date=28 July 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Burgess |first1=Kaya |title=Ken Clarke objects to 'pointless' questions over infected blood scandal |url= https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ken-clarke-balks-at-pointless-questions-over-infected-blood-scandal-5x6h93snh |date=27 July 2021 |work=The Times |location= London}}</ref>

The [[Manufacturing, Science and Finance|MSF]] trade union claimed that Clarke's exclusion of NHS medical laboratory staff from the pay review body in 1984 led to massive staff shortages and a crisis in medical laboratory testing by 1999.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |title=Health Lab tests under threat |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/278521.stm |work=BBC News |location=London |date=15 February 1999 |access-date=27 July 2021 |archive-date=26 May 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040526074919/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/278521.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Later ministerial positions ===
Just over two years later he was appointed Secretary of State for [[Department of Education and Science (UK)|Education and Science]] in the final weeks of Thatcher's Government, following [[Norman Tebbit]]'s unwillingness to return to Cabinet following the resignation of Sir [[Geoffrey Howe]]. Clarke was the first Cabinet Minister to advise Thatcher to resign after her victory in the first round of the November 1990 [[1990 Conservative Party leadership election|leadership contest]] was less than the 15% winning margin required to prevent a second ballot; she referred to him in her memoirs as a ''candid friend'': "his manner was robust in the brutalist style he has cultivated: the candid friend".<ref>{{cite book|last=Thatcher|first=Margaret|title=The Downing Street Years|year=1993|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York|isbn=978-0-06-017056-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/downingstreetyea00that/page/914 914]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/downingstreetyea00that/page/914}}</ref>

Clarke came to work with John Major very closely, and quickly emerged as a central figure in his government. After continuing as Education Secretary (1990–92), where he introduced a number of reforms, he was appointed as [[Home Secretary]] in the wake of the Conservatives' victory at the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]]. In May 1993, seven months after the impact of "[[Black Wednesday]]" had damaged [[Norman Lamont]]'s credibility as [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]], Major sacked Lamont and appointed Clarke in his place.

===Chancellor of the Exchequer===
At first, Clarke was seen as the dominant figure in Cabinet, and at the October 1993 Conservative Party Conference he defended Major from his critics by pronouncing "any enemy of John Major is an enemy of mine."

In the party leadership contest of 1995, when John Major beat [[John Redwood]], Clarke kept faith in Major and commented: "I don't think the Conservative Party could win an election in 1,000 years on this ultra right-wing programme".<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/pm-assails-malcontent-redwood-1588458.html | location=London | work=The Independent | first1=Donald | last1=Macintyre | first2=Colin | last2=Brown | date=27 June 1995 | title=PM assails 'malcontent' Redwood | access-date=2 September 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913044302/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pm-assails-malcontent-redwood-1588458.html | archive-date=13 September 2017 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Clarke enjoyed an increasingly successful record as Chancellor, as the economy recovered from the recession of the early 1990s and a new monetary policy was put into effect after Black Wednesday. He reduced the basic rate of income tax from 25% to 23%, reduced UK Government spending as a percentage of GDP, and reduced the budget deficit from £50.8 billion in 1993 to £15.5 billion in 1997. Clarke's successor, the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Chancellor of the Exchequer|Chancellor]] [[Gordon Brown]], continued these policies, which eliminated the deficit by 1998 and allowed Brown to record a budget surplus for the following four years. Interest rates, inflation and unemployment all fell during Clarke's tenure at [[HM Treasury]]. Clarke's success was such that Brown felt he had to pledge to keep to Clarke's spending plans and these limits remained in place for the first two years of the Labour Government that was elected in 1997.<ref name="profile"/>

===Single Currency: free hand and referendum pledge===
The matter of a [[referendum]] on Britain joining the planned [[Eurozone|euro]] - first raised by Margaret Thatcher in 1990 - was, after much press speculation, raised again at Cabinet by [[Douglas Hogg]] in the spring of 1996, very likely (in Clarke's view) with Major's approval; Clarke records that Heseltine spoke "with passionate intensity" at Cabinet against a referendum, believing both that referendums were pernicious and that no concession would be enough to please the Eurosceptics. Clarke, who had already threatened resignation over the issue, also opposed the measure and, although Clarke and Heseltine were in a small minority in Cabinet, Major once again deferred a decision.

Major, Heseltine and Clarke eventually reached agreement in April 1996, in what Clarke describes as "a tense meeting … rather like a treaty session", that there would be a commitment to a referendum before joining the euro, but that the pledge would be valid for one Parliament only (i.e. until the general election after next), with the Government's long-term options remaining completely open; Clarke threatened to resign if this formula were departed from.<ref name="Clarke 2016, pp.369-372">Clarke 2016, pp.369-372</ref>

Clarke, writing in 2016 after the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|Brexit Referendum]], comments that he and Heseltine later agreed that they had separately decided to give way because of the pressure Major was under, and that the referendum pledge "was the biggest single mistake" of their careers, giving "legitimacy" to such a device.<ref name="Clarke 2016, pp.369-372"/>

In December 1996, after Foreign Secretary [[Malcolm Rifkind]] had commented that it was unlikely that the government would join the euro, Clarke and Heseltine took to the airwaves – in apparent unison – to insist that the government retained a free choice as to whether or not to join, angering Eurosceptics.<ref>Crick 1997, pp.431-433</ref> When Tory Party Chairman, [[Brian Mawhinney]], was understood to have briefed against him, Clarke declared: "tell your kids to get their scooters off my lawn" – an allusion to [[Harold Wilson]]'s rebuke of Trades Union leader [[Hugh Scanlon]] in the late 1960s.

===Role as a backbencher===
After the Conservatives entered opposition in 1997, Clarke contested the leadership of the Party for the first time. In [[1997 Conservative Party leadership election|1997]], the electorate being solely Tory Members of Parliament, he topped the poll in the first and second rounds. In the third and final round he formed an alliance with Eurosceptic John Redwood, who would have become [[Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer|Shadow Chancellor]] and Clarke's deputy, were he to have won the contest. However, Thatcher endorsed Clarke's rival [[William Hague]], who proceeded to win the election comfortably. The contest was criticised for not involving the rank-and-file members of the Party, where surveys showed Clarke to be more popular. Clarke rejected the offer from Hague of a Shadow Cabinet role, opting instead to return to the [[backbenches]].

Clarke contested the party leadership for a second time in [[2001 Conservative Party leadership election|2001]]. Despite opinion polls again showing he was the most popular Conservative politician with the British public,<ref name="profile"/> he lost in a final round among the rank-and-file membership, a new procedure introduced by Hague, to a much less experienced, but strongly Eurosceptic rival, [[Iain Duncan Smith]]. This loss, by a margin of 62% to 38%, was attributed to the former Chancellor's strong pro-European views being increasingly out-of-step with the party members' [[Euroscepticism]].<ref name="profile"/> His campaign was managed by [[Andrew Tyrie]].

Clarke opposed the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]]. After choosing not to stand for the leadership after Duncan Smith departed in [[2003 Conservative Party leadership election|2003]] in the interests of party unity, he returned to fight the 2005 leadership election. He still retained huge popularity among voters, with 40% of the public believing he would be the best leader.<ref>{{cite news | title = Clarke is voter favourite&nbsp;— poll | work = BBC News | date = 5 September 2005 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4216670.stm | access-date = 24 September 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071213233527/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4216670.stm | archive-date = 13 December 2007 | url-status = live }}</ref> He was accused by [[Norman Tebbit]] of being "lazy" whilst leadership rival [[Malcolm Rifkind|Sir Malcolm Rifkind]] suggested that Clarke's pro-European views could have divided the Conservative Party had Clarke won.<ref>{{cite news | title = Tories round on candidate Clarke | work = BBC News | date = 4 September 2005 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4213544.stm | access-date = 24 September 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050911122220/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4213544.stm | archive-date = 11 September 2005 | url-status = live }}</ref> In the event, Clarke was eliminated in the first round of voting by Conservative MPs. Eventual winner David Cameron appointed Clarke to head a Democracy Task Force as part of his extensive 18-month policy review in December 2005, exploring issues such as the reform of the [[House of Lords]] and party funding. Clarke is President of the [[Tory Reform Group]], a liberal, pro-European [[ginger group]] within the Conservative Party.

Clarke became known as "an [[Economic liberalism|economic]] and [[Social liberalism|social liberal]], an internationalist and a strong supporter of the European idea".<ref>{{cite web|last=Stadler|first=Liliane|date=6 December 2016|title=Ken Clarke's Kind of Blue|url=https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/ken-clarkes-kind-blue/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723122946/https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/ken-clarkes-kind-blue/|archive-date=23 July 2018|access-date=23 July 2018|website=OxPol}}</ref>

In 2006, he described Cameron's plans for a British Bill of Rights as "[[xenophobic]] and legal nonsense".<ref>{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5120894.stm |title=Clarke slams Cameron rights plan |work=BBC News |date=27 June 2006 |access-date=19 October 2009}}</ref>

===Expenses scandal===
{{Main|United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal}}
On 12 May 2009, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' reported that Clarke had "flipped" his [[Council Tax]].  He had told the Parliamentary authorities that his main home was in the Rushcliffe constituency, enabling him to claim a second-home allowance on his London residence, leaving the taxpayer to foot the bill for Council Tax due on that property. However, he told [[Rushcliffe|Rushcliffe Borough Council]] in Nottinghamshire that he spent so little time at his constituency address that his wife Gillian should qualify for a 25% Council Tax (single person's) discount, saving the former Chancellor around £650 per year. Land Registry records showed that Clarke no longer had a mortgage on his Nottinghamshire home where he has lived since 1987. Instead he held a mortgage on his London property, which was being charged to the taxpayer at £480 per month.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5310015/MPs-expenses-Ken-Clarkes-council-tax-flip.html |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |title=MPs expenses: Ken Clarke's council tax 'flip' |first=Gordon |last=Rayner |date=12 May 2009 |access-date=9 April 2010 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522212823/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5310015/MPs-expenses-Ken-Clarkes-council-tax-flip.html |archive-date=22 May 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Return to the frontbench===
In 2009, Clarke became Shadow Business Secretary in opposition to then-[[Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform|Business Secretary]], [[Peter Mandelson|Lord Mandelson]]. David Cameron described Clarke as about the only one able to challenge Mandelson and Brown's economic credibility. Two days later it was revealed that Clarke had warned in a speech a month earlier that President [[Barack Obama]] could see David Cameron as a "right-wing nationalist" if the Conservatives maintained Eurosceptic policies and that Obama would "start looking at whoever is in Germany or France if we start being [[isolationism|isolationist]]".<ref>{{cite news | title = Ken Clarke warns Barack Obama could see David Cameron as right wing nationalist | work = The Daily Telegraph | date = 21 January 2009 | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/4309112/Ken-Clarke-warns-Barack-Obama-could-see-David-Cameron-as-right-wing-nationalist.html | access-date = 23 January 2009 | location = London | first1 = Robert | last1 = Winnett | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090124084224/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/4309112/Ken-Clarke-warns-Barack-Obama-could-see-David-Cameron-as-right-wing-nationalist.html | archive-date = 24 January 2009 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The ''[[Financial Times]]'' said "Clarke has in effect agreed to disagree with the Tories' official Eurosceptic line".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/19dff8ce-2089-11df-bf2d-00144feab49a.html |title=Interactive graphics – A Conservative Who's Who |work=Financial Times |location=London |access-date=19 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510014817/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/19dff8ce-2089-11df-bf2d-00144feab49a.html |archive-date=10 May 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary===
[[File:Kenneth-clarke-hi-res.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Clarke's portrait as Lord Chancellor, 2011]]
On 12 May 2010, Clarke's appointment as [[Secretary of State for Justice]] and [[Lord Chancellor]] was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in the [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|Coalition Government]] formed between the Conservative and [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] parties.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/liveevent/ |title=Election 2010 – Live coverage – General Election 2010 |work=BBC News |date=May 2010 |access-date=19 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313183641/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/liveevent |archive-date=13 March 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> James Macintyre, political editor of ''[[Prospect (magazine)|Prospect]]'', argued that in this ministerial role he had instigated a process of radical reform.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethosjournal.com/home/item/291-movers-and-shakers |title=Public service innovators |last=Macintyre |first=James |work=Ethos |publisher=Serco |location=Hook, Hants |year=2010 |access-date=17 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119213312/http://www.ethosjournal.com/home/item/291-movers-and-shakers |archive-date=19 January 2012 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

In June 2010, Clarke signalled an end to short prison sentences after warning it was "virtually impossible" to rehabilitate any inmate in less than 12 months. In his first major speech after taking office, Clarke indicated a major shift in penal policy by saying prison was not effective in many cases. This could result in more offenders being handed community sentences. Clarke, who described the current prison population of 85,000 as "astonishing", received immediate criticism from some colleagues in a Party renowned for its tough stance on law and order. He signalled that fathers who fail to pay child maintenance, disqualified drivers and criminals fighting asylum refusals could be among the first to benefit and should not be sent to prison.<ref>{{cite news |last=Whitehead |first=Tom |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7863613/David-Cameron-insists-short-prison-sentences-to-stay.html |title=David Cameron insists short prison sentences to stay |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=30 June 2010 |access-date=14 July 2010 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703044919/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/7863613/David-Cameron-insists-short-prison-sentences-to-stay.html |archive-date=3 July 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Clarke announced in February 2011 that the Government intended to scrutinise the relationship between the [[European Court of Human Rights]] and national parliaments.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/feb/20/kenneth-clarke-european-court-reform |title=Kenneth Clarke offers hope to Tory critics of human rights court |last=Stratton |first=Allegra |date=21 February 2011 |work=The Guardian |location=London |page=8 |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927191719/https://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/feb/20/kenneth-clarke-european-court-reform |archive-date=27 September 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2011, controversy related to Clarke's reported views on rape resurfaced after an interview on the radio station [[BBC 5 Live]], where he discussed a proposal to further reduce the sentences of criminals, including rapists, who pleaded guilty pre-trial.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13444770 |title= In full: Ken Clarke interview on rape sentencing |work= BBC News |date= 18 May 2011 |access-date= 20 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180717110248/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13444770 |archive-date= 17 July 2018 |url-status= live }}</ref>

In 2011 and 2012, Clarke faced criticism for his Justice and Security Bill, in particular those aspects of it that allow secret trials when "national security" is at stake.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/nov/16/justice-and-security-green-paper |last= Rozenberg |first= Joshua |date= 16 November 2011 |title= The justice and security green paper is an attack on liberty |work= The Guardian |access-date= 2 June 2012 |location= London |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131001061029/http://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/nov/16/justice-and-security-green-paper |archive-date= 1 October 2013 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15565404 |title= Ken Clarke's justice bill passed despite 'attacks' |work= BBC News |date= 2 November 2011 |access-date= 2 June 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120321182356/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15565404 |archive-date= 21 March 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref> ''The Economist'' stated: "the origins of the proposed legislation lie in civil cases brought by former Guantánamo detainees, the best-known of whom was [[Binyam Mohamed]], alleging that government intelligence and security agencies (MI6 and MI5) were complicit in their rendition and torture".<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.economist.com/node/21556252 |title= A question of balance |newspaper= The Economist |location= London |date= 2 June 2012 |access-date= 2 June 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120602020841/http://www.economist.com/node/21556252 |archive-date= 2 June 2012 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/08/special-report-britain-rendition-libya |title= Special report: Rendition ordeal that raises new questions about secret trials |last= Cobain |first= Ian |date= 9 April 2012 |work= The Guardian |page= 1 |location= London |access-date= 9 April 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131023101749/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/08/special-report-britain-rendition-libya |archive-date= 23 October 2013 |url-status= live }}</ref> Prominent civil liberties and human rights campaigners argued: "the worst excesses of the war on terror have been revealed by open courts and a free media. Yet the Justice and Security Green Paper seeks to place Government above the law and would undermine such crucial scrutiny."<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/mar/05/secrets-scrutiny-green-paper-justice |title= Secrets and scrutiny (Letter) |last1= Chakrabarti |first1= Shami |author-link1= Shami Chakrabarti |last2= Davis |first2= David |author-link2= David Davis (British politician) |last3= Kennedy |first3= Helena |author-link3= Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws |last4= Macdonald |first4= Ken |author-link4= Ken Macdonald |last5= Mercer |first5= Nicholas |last6= Rose |first6= Dinah |author-link6= Dinah Rose |date= 6 March 2012 |work= The Guardian |page= 35 |location= London |access-date= 2 June 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140102010436/http://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/mar/05/secrets-scrutiny-green-paper-justice |archive-date= 2 January 2014 |url-status= live }}</ref>

===Minister without Portfolio===
[[File:Ken Clarke.jpg|thumb|Clarke in 2012]]
Following the 2012 Cabinet reshuffle, Clarke was moved from [[Secretary of State for Justice|Justice Secretary]] to [[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|Minister without Portfolio]]. It was also announced that he would assume the role of roving [[Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy|Trade Envoy]] with responsibility for promoting British business and trade interests abroad, a position which he enjoyed.

In the 2014 Cabinet reshuffle, after more than 20 years serving as a Minister, it was announced that Clarke had stepped down from government, to return to the backbenches.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19918533 |title=Ken Clarke given trade envoy role |work=BBC News |date=12 October 2012 |access-date=13 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140105144203/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19918533 |archive-date=5 January 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> Clarke was honoured with appointment as a [[Order of the Companions of Honour|Companion of Honour]], upon the Prime Minister's recommendation, in July 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title= Kenneth Clarke appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour |url= https://www.gov.uk/government/news/kenneth-clarke-appointed-to-the-order-of-the-companions-of-honour |publisher= Prime Minister's Office |access-date= 22 July 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140726184313/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/kenneth-clarke-appointed-to-the-order-of-the-companions-of-honour |archive-date= 26 July 2014 |url-status= live }}</ref> His total time as a [[Minister (government)|government minister]] is the fifth-longest in the modern era after [[Winston Churchill]], [[Arthur Balfour]], [[Rab Butler]], and [[Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire|The Duke of Devonshire]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Parkinson|first=Justin|date=13 June 2013|title=Chasing Churchill: Ken Clarke climbs ministerial long-service chart|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22858351|access-date=13 January 2014}}</ref>

===Return to the backbench===
Clarke was opposed to [[Brexit]] during the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|2016 referendum]] on the United Kingdom's continued [[Accession of the United Kingdom to the European Communities|membership of the European Union]], and opposed the [[European Union Referendum Act 2015|holding of the referendum]] in the first place.<ref name="thespectatorwhichtorympsbackbrexit">{{cite news |last1=Goodenough |first1=Tom |title=Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence? |url= http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/02/which-tory-mps-back-brexit-who-doesnt-and-who-is-still-on-the-fence/ |access-date=11 October 2016 |work=The Spectator |location= London |date=16 February 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190502030758/https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/02/which-tory-mps-back-brexit-who-doesnt-and-who-is-still-on-the-fence/ |archive-date=2 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was the sole Conservative MP to vote against the triggering of [[Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union|Article 50]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2016/dec/07/brexit-debate-plan-labour-pmqs-call-for-government-to-publish-its-brexit-plan-politics-live |title=MPs vote to demand Brexit plan and say article 50 should be triggered by end March |first=Andrew |last=Sparrow |date=7 December 2016 |work=The Guardian |location= London |access-date=7 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207211038/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2016/dec/07/brexit-debate-plan-labour-pmqs-call-for-government-to-publish-its-brexit-plan-politics-live?page=with:block-584856cfe4b08659393b9dfc#block-584856cfe4b08659393b9dfc. |archive-date=7 December 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the [[2016 Conservative Party leadership election]] Clarke was interviewed by Sky News on 5 July 2016 and made negative comments to Sir Malcolm Rifkind,<ref>{{cite news |title=Ken Clarke caught on camera ridiculing Conservative leadership candidates – but Sky News face backlash after releasing footage |date=5 July 2016 |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/05/ken-clarke-caught-on-camera-ridiculing-conservative-leadership-c/ |newspaper=The Telegraph |location= London |access-date=5 July 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160705140802/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/05/ken-clarke-caught-on-camera-ridiculing-conservative-leadership-c/ |archive-date=5 July 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> about the "fiasco" (leadership contest) and about three of the candidates. In a widely circulated video clip, he referred to [[Theresa May]] as a "bloody difficult woman", joked that [[Michael Gove]], who was "wild", would "go to war with at least three countries at once" and characterised some of the utterances of [[Andrea Leadsom]] as "extremely stupid". Clarke added that Gove "did us all a favour by getting rid of Boris. The idea of Boris as prime minister is ridiculous."<ref>{{cite news |title= Ken Clarke caught on camera ridiculing Conservative leadership candidates |last1= Mason |first1= Rowena |last2= Asthana |first2= Anushka |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/05/ken-clarke-caught-camera-ridiculing-tory-leadership-candidates-theresa-may-michael-gove |newspaper= The Guardian |location= London |date= 5 July 2016 |access-date= 12 December 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161216010133/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jul/05/ken-clarke-caught-camera-ridiculing-tory-leadership-candidates-theresa-may-michael-gove |archive-date= 16 December 2016 |url-status= live }}</ref>

In February 2017, following the death of [[Gerald Kaufman|Sir Gerald Kaufman]], Clarke became [[Father of the House (United Kingdom)|Father of the House]]. He was re-elected as an MP in the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]].

In December 2017, he voted along with fellow Conservative [[Dominic Grieve]] and nine other Conservative MPs against the government, and in favour of guaranteeing Parliament a "[[Meaningful vote#Alteration of Clause 9|meaningful vote]]" on any [[Brexit]] deal Britain agrees with the European Union.<ref name="Independent_Austin">{{cite news |last=Austin |first=Henry |title=Brexit vote: The 11 Tory rebel MPs who defeated the Government |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-vote-tory-mps-rebel-theresa-may-government-defeat-who-were-they-list-a8108776.html |work=The Independent |location= London |date=13 December 2017 |access-date=19 June 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180619213817/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-vote-tory-mps-rebel-theresa-may-government-defeat-who-were-they-list-a8108776.html |archive-date=19 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Clarke endorsed [[Rory Stewart]] during the [[2019 Conservative Party leadership election|2019 Conservative leadership election]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/09/tory-leadership-contest-where-do-things-stand |title=Tory leadership contest: where do things stand? |last=Walker |first=Peter |date=9 June 2019 |work=The Guardian |location= London |access-date=10 June 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190609233917/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/09/tory-leadership-contest-where-do-things-stand |archive-date=9 June 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2019, after Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost a number of key votes in the House of Commons, Clarke stated that it would be 'not inconceivable' for him to become Prime Minister leading a [[National Government (United Kingdom)|government of national unity]] in order to revoke Article 50 and prevent Brexit. Other politicians who were suggested for such a role at the time included [[Harriet Harman]], his female counterpart as Mother of the House of Commons. Lib Dem leader [[Jo Swinson]] supported the proposal, though Boris Johnson and [[Jeremy Corbyn]], the [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]], both dismissed the suggestion.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49372525 |title=Clarke: I wouldn't rule out becoming PM |date=16 August 2019 |work=BBC News |access-date=22 August 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190821235649/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49372525 |archive-date=21 August 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> As it turned out, a vote of no-confidence was not in fact tabled against Boris Johnson's government and no such government of national unity was formed or took office.

===Sitting as an Independent===
[[File:Clarke, May and Duncan 2019.jpg|thumb|Clarke on the backbench with [[Theresa May]], [[Sir Alan Duncan]] and [[Liam Fox]], 19 October 2019]]
{{Main|2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs}}
On 3 September 2019, Clarke joined 20 other rebel Conservative MPs to vote against the Conservative government of Boris Johnson.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-09-04 |title=Boris Johnson to table motion for election after failed vote – as it happened |url=http://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/sep/03/commons-showdown-looms-in-battle-over-no-deal-brexit-live |access-date=2022-12-01 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> The rebel MPs voted against a Conservative motion which subsequently failed. Effectively, they helped block Johnson's [[no-deal Brexit]] plan from proceeding on 31 October.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/09/04/parliament-whip-removed/ The Daily Telegraph] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905012258/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/09/04/parliament-whip-removed/ |date=5 September 2019 }}, Boris Johnson to strip 21 Tory MPs of the Tory whip in parliamentary bloodbath</ref> Subsequently, all 21 were advised that they had lost the Conservative whip<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-49578000|title=What is removing the whip, filibustering and other Brexit jargon?|website=BBC Newsbeat|date=4 September 2019|access-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904193653/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-49578000|archive-date=4 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wire |date=2021-04-05 |title=West Bridgford Nottingham News {{!}} West Bridgford Wire |url=https://westbridgfordwire.com/,%20https://westbridgfordwire.com/ |access-date=2022-12-01 |language=en-GB}}</ref> and were expelled as Conservative MPs, requiring them to sit as independents.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/principal/whips/|title=Whips|website=Parliament.uk|access-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722155857/https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/principal/whips/|archive-date=22 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/03/boris-johnson-suffers-commons-defeat-as-tories-turn-against-him|title=Boris Johnson to seek election after rebel Tories deliver Commons defeat|access-date=4 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903224603/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/03/boris-johnson-suffers-commons-defeat-as-tories-turn-against-him|archive-date=3 September 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> If they decided to run for re-election in a future election, the party would block their selection as Conservative candidates, though Clarke opted not to do so.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>

On the edition of 3 September of [[BBC]]'s ''[[Newsnight]]'', Clarke discussed the situation, saying that he no longer recognised the Conservative Party, referring to it as "the [[Brexit Party]], rebadged". His rationale was "It's been taken over by a rather knockabout sort of character, who's got this bizarre crash-it-through philosophy… a Cabinet which is the most right-wing Cabinet any Conservative Party has ever produced."<ref name="rebadged">{{cite web|date=4 September 2019|title='It's the Brexit Party rebadged': Tory grandee Kenneth Clarke among 21 rebels|url=https://www.itv.com/news/2019-09-04/its-the-brexit-party-rebadged-tory-grandee-kenneth-clarke-among-21-rebels/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904082718/https://www.itv.com/news/2019-09-04/its-the-brexit-party-rebadged-tory-grandee-kenneth-clarke-among-21-rebels/|archive-date=4 September 2019|access-date=4 September 2019|website=ITV News}}</ref> In an interview on 7 September, Clarke rejected the suggestion that, like other former Conservative MPs, he could join the Liberal Democrats, but noted that, if he were to cast 'a protest vote', he would 'follow the Conservative tradition of voting Lib Dem.'<ref>{{cite news|first1=Andrew|last1=Rawnsley|first2=Toby|last2=Helm|title=Ken Clarke: I am not sure yet, but I may protest and vote Lib Dem|newspaper=The Observer|date=7 September 2019|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/07/ken-clarke-interview-andrew-rawnsley-lost-tory-whip|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107021937/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/sep/07/ken-clarke-interview-andrew-rawnsley-lost-tory-whip|archive-date=7 November 2019}}</ref>

In his capacity as Father of the House, Clarke presided over the House of Commons during the [[2019 Speaker of the British House of Commons election|2019 Speakership election]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Syal|first=Rajeev|date=5 November 2019|title=Speaker Hoyle promises humour and quiet words|url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian/20191105/281513637959771|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=10 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110071913/https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-guardian/20191105/281513637959771|archive-date=10 November 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> He then retired from the House of Commons at the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]]. Since [[Dennis Skinner]] lost his seat in the election, [[Peter Bottomley|Sir Peter Bottomley]] became Father of the House.

=== Peerage ===
In early 2020, Clarke was nominated for a peerage by Boris Johnson.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51389602|title=Brexit critics Hammond and Clarke set for peerages|date=6 February 2020|work=BBC News|access-date=6 February 2020|archive-date=6 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206121856/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-51389602|url-status=live}}</ref> On 4 September he was created '''Baron Clarke of Nottingham''', ''of West Bridgford in the County of Nottinghamshire''.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28388|date=8 September 2020|page=1470|city=e}}</ref> Taking the Conservative whip, he made his maiden speech on 28 September 2020.<ref>{{cite web|last=Clarke|first=Kenneth|date=28 September 2020|title=Maiden speech in the House of Lords|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2020-09-28/debates/C047C0C8-7FC7-4FF2-A591-030A3BF59CF6/CoronavirusAct2020TemporaryProvisions#contribution-AC035998-3996-4EFB-BEB5-2B20A374E050|access-date=21 October 2020|website=hansard.parliament.uk|archive-date=26 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026033801/https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2020-09-28/debates/C047C0C8-7FC7-4FF2-A591-030A3BF59CF6/CoronavirusAct2020TemporaryProvisions#contribution-AC035998-3996-4EFB-BEB5-2B20A374E050|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Corporate, media and other work==
Whilst serving as a backbench MP and as a Shadow Cabinet Minister, Clarke accepted several non-executive directorships:

* Deputy Chairman and a director of [[British American Tobacco]] (BAT) (1998–2007), for which Clarke faced allegations relating to activities of BAT in lobbying the developing world to reject stronger health warnings on cigarette packets and evidence the corporation had been involved in smuggling and targeting children with advertisements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bat.com/group/sites/UK__3MNFEN.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/F5AE03E3BB591A1EC12573140052EE6E?opendocument&SKN=1&TMP=1|title=Unknown title|website=British American Tobacco}}{{Dead link|fix-attempted=yes|date=November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1554302,00.html |title=BAT role makes Clarke unfit for office |work=The Guardian |date= 23 August 2005 |access-date=19 January 2009 |first= George |last= Monbiot |author-link= George Monbiot |location=London}}</ref>
* Deputy Chairman of [[Alliance Unichem]]{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* Chairman (non-executive) of [[Unichem]]{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* Director of [[Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust]]{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}
* Member from June 2007 of the Advisory Board of Centaurus Capital, a London-based [[hedge fund]] management company.<ref>{{cite news | title = Hedge fund Centaurus appoints Ken Clarke as adviser | work = Reuters | date = 1 June 2007 | url = http://uk.reuters.com/article/hedgeFundsNews/idUKNOA13935520070601 | access-date =24 September 2008}}</ref>
* Clarke is a member of the advisory board of Agcapita Farmland Investment Partnership,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.farmlandinvestmentpartnership.com |title=Agcapita Partners LP |publisher=Farmland Investment Partnership |access-date=19 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107222107/http://www.farmlandinvestmentpartnership.com/ |archive-date=7 January 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> a Canadian farmland investment fund.
* Director (non-executive) of Independent News and Media (UK).<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/kenneth_clarke/rushcliffe |title= Kenneth Clarke MP |publisher= TheyWorkForYou |access-date= 2 September 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130703090402/http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/kenneth_clarke/rushcliffe |archive-date= 3 July 2013 |url-status= live }}</ref>
* Participant at the annual meeting of the [[Bilderberg Group]] in 1993, 1998–2000, 2003–04, 2006–08 and 2012–13.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmstnprv/180iii/sp0304.htm |title= Memorandum submitted by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards&nbsp;— Complaint against Mr Kenneth Clarke |publisher= [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom Parliament]] |date= 11 July 1997 |quote= Mr Clarke subsequently explained that he and Mr Blair considered that they were attending the conference as representatives of the Government and the Opposition respectively, and stated that "I was quite confident that I was at the time meeting the rules applying to Ministers, and it did not occur to me that the new rules concerning registration could apply to this visit". |access-date= 2 September 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161128111728/http://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmselect/cmstnprv/180iii/sp0304.htm/ |archive-date= 28 November 2016 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=RMI>{{cite web |url= https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem.htm |title= Register of Members' Interests |publisher= United Kingdom Parliament |access-date= 2 September 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160203102450/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmregmem.htm |archive-date= 3 February 2016 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=BGES>{{cite news |work=London Evening Standard |date=15 August 2008 |title= His secret's out: how Georgie met Kissinger |page=14 |quote=Ken Clarke, Peter Mandelson and former mandarin Lord Kerr were also among the select group of British figures at the gathering of politicians and tycoons.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Bilderberg: The ultimate conspiracy theory |work= BBC News |date= 3 June 2004 |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3773019.stm |quote= The group, which includes luminaries such as Henry Kissinger and former UK chancellor Kenneth Clarke, does not even have a website. |access-date= 24 September 2008 |first= Jonathan |last= Duffy |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081226042001/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3773019.stm |archive-date= 26 December 2008 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name=BGMI>{{cite news |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/parliamentrmi/0,,-978,00.html |work=The Guardian |quote=5–8 June 2008, to Chantilly, Virginia, USA, to attend Bilderberg Conference. Hotel accommodation paid for by the conference sponsors. (I paid my travel costs.) (Registered 12 June 2008) |title=Kenneth Clarke: Full register of members' interests |location=London |access-date=7 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724125809/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/parliamentrmi/0%2C%2C-978%2C00.html |archive-date=24 July 2008  }}</ref>

Also as a backbencher, Clarke declared engagement in non-political media work:
* presented several series of [[jazz]] programmes on [[BBC Radio 4|BBC Radio Four]], including one on his namesake, bebop drummer [[Kenny Clarke]]
* wrote a monthly column for ''[[The Mail on Sunday|Financial Mail on Sunday]]'' (£10,001–15,000)
* wrote a weekly commentary or interview for [[Bloomberg Television]] (£10,001–15,000)
* undertook occasional lecturing, on a self-employed basis.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmregmem/memi06.htm |title= Register of Members' Interests |access-date= 2 September 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170309104049/https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199798/cmregmem/memi06.htm |archive-date= 9 March 2017 |url-status= live }}</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1964, Clarke married Gillian Edwards, a Cambridge contemporary.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1334975/Is-there-more-to-Ken-the-Bloke.html |title=Is there more to Ken the Bloke? |date=23 July 2001 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=15 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150217031317/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1334975/Is-there-more-to-Ken-the-Bloke.html |archive-date=17 February 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> They had a son and a daughter.<ref name="profile"/> Edwards died of cancer in July 2015.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/gillian-clarke-historian-political-activist-and-quiltmaker-who-stood-at-ken-clarkes-right-hand-for-more-than-half-a-century-10389005.html |title=Gillian Clarke: Historian, political activist and quilt-maker who stood at Ken Clarke's right hand for more than half a century |date=14 July 2015 |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=4 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821171825/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/gillian-clarke-historian-political-activist-and-quiltmaker-who-stood-at-ken-clarkes-right-hand-for-more-than-half-a-century-10389005.html |archive-date=21 August 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Clarke's enthusiasm for cigars, [[jazz]] and motor racing is well known,<ref name="profile"/> and he enjoys [[birdwatching]] as well as reading political history. He is also popularly recognised for his affection for suede [[Hush Puppies]], a brand of shoe, which became a "trademark" of his during his early ministerial days.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7126371.ece |title=Ken Clarke sheds Hush Puppies for new job |location=London |work=The Times |first=Philippe |last=Naughton |date=14 May 2010 |access-date=10 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629103816/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7126371.ece |archive-date=29 June 2011 |url-status=live }}{{subscription required}}</ref> His autobiography denies he wore Hush Puppies and says these suede shoes were hand-made by Crockett & Jones.<ref>''Kind of Blue'', Ken Clarke 2016</ref>

Clarke is a sports enthusiast, being a supporter of both local clubs [[Notts County Football Club|Notts County]]<ref>The Notts County Miscellany by David Clayton, The History Press, 17 March 2017</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/jun/04/sport.comment|title=Kenneth Clarke: I was there when . . .|first=Harcharan|last=Chandhoke|date=4 June 2001|access-date=17 June 2017|work=The Guardian|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202150817/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/jun/04/sport.comment|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Nottingham Forest Football Club|Nottingham Forest]], who offered him a chair<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-forest-offer-chair-to-kenneth-clarke-1257471.html|title=Football: Forest offer chair to Kenneth Clarke|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=23 June 1997|access-date=17 June 2017|archive-date=16 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616170430/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-forest-offer-chair-to-kenneth-clarke-1257471.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and a former President of [[Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club]]. He is President of both [[Radcliffe Olympic F.C.|Radcliffe Olympic]] and the Radcliffe on Trent Male Voice Choir, and a keen follower of [[Formula One]] motorsport. He was involved with tobacco giant [[British American Tobacco]]'s Formula One team [[British American Racing]] (BAR) and has attended [[List of Formula One Grands Prix|Grands Prix]] in support of the BAR team. BAR was sold to [[Honda]] in 2005. He also appeared on the podium of the [[2012 British Grand Prix]] to present the first-place trophy to [[Mark Webber (racing driver)|Mark Webber]].

He attended the [[1966 FIFA World Cup Final]] and jokingly claims to have been influential in persuading the linesman, [[Tofiq Bahramov]], to award a goal to [[Geoff Hurst]] when the [[England national football team|England]] striker had seen his shot hit the crossbar of opponents [[Germany national football team|West Germany]], leaving doubt as to whether the ball had crossed the line. Clarke's position in the [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]] crowd was right behind the linesman at the time, and he shouted at the official to award a goal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chandhoke|first=Harcharan|title=I was there when... England won the World Cup|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/jun/04/sport.comment|access-date=20 March 2015|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=4 June 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402162221/http://www.theguardian.com/football/2001/jun/04/sport.comment|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Clarke is a lover of [[real ale]] and has been an active member of the [[Campaign for Real Ale]] (CAMRA).<ref>{{cite news | title = Campaign to include women in real ale round | work = The Guardian | date = 6 August 2002 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/aug/06/advertising.marketingandpr | access-date = 24 September 2008 | location = London | first = Sarah | last = Hall | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140909183540/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/aug/06/advertising.marketingandpr | archive-date = 9 September 2014 | url-status = live }}</ref> His memoir, ''[[Kind of Blue (book)|Kind of Blue]]'', was published in October 2016.<ref name="Clarke2016">{{cite book|first=Ken |last=Clarke|title=Kind of Blue: A Political Memoir|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N2hyDAAAQBAJ|date=6 October 2016|publisher=Pan Macmillan|isbn=978-1-5098-3724-3}}</ref>

==Honours==
[[File:Companion of Honour.jpg|thumb|right|85px|Insignia of Companion of Honour]]
* Made a [[Queen's Counsel]] (QC) in 1980.
* Made an Honorary Bencher of [[Gray's Inn]] in 1989. Made a Full Bencher in 1997.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/may/13/ken-clarke-ministry-of-justice |title=Ken Clarke is a good fit for the Ministry of Justice |date=13 May 2010 |first=Joshua |last=Rozenberg |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=30 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830111704/https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/may/13/ken-clarke-ministry-of-justice |archive-date=30 August 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Sworn in as a Member of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] in 1985. This gave him the [[Style_(form_of_address)#United_Kingdom_2|style]] "[[The Right Honourable]]".
* Made a Member of the [[Order of the Companions of Honour]] (CH) in 2014.
* Honorary degree of [[Doctor of Laws]] (LLD) from the [[University of Nottingham]] in 1989.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/registrar/documents/hon-deg-list-oct18.pdf |title=Honorary Graduates of the University of Nottingham |date=October 2018 |website=University of Nottingham |access-date=30 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128135925/https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/registrar/documents/hon-deg-list-oct18.pdf |archive-date=28 January 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* He was awarded an [[Honorary title (academic)|Honorary Fellowship]] by the [[Chartered Institute of Taxation]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ex-chancellor awarded honorary fellowship by CIoT |url=https://www.accountancyage.com/2016/01/13/ex-chancellor-awarded-honorary-fellowship-by-ciot/ |website=Chartered Institute of Taxation |date=13 January 2016 |access-date=13 January 2022 }}</ref>
* Honorary degree of [[Doctor of the University]] (DUniv) from [[University of Derby]] in November 2017.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.derby.ac.uk/about/honorary-awards/honorands/kenneth-clarke/ | title=Kenneth Clarke – Honorands |website=University of Derby |date=November 2017 | access-date=30 August 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830111704/https://www.derby.ac.uk/about/honorary-awards/honorands/kenneth-clarke/ | archive-date=30 August 2019 | url-status=live }}</ref>
* He was awarded an [[Honorary title (academic)|Honorary Fellowship]] by [[Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke CH QC MP |url=https://www.cai.cam.ac.uk/people/rt-hon-kenneth-clarke-ch-qc-mp |website=Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge |date=7 June 2013 |access-date=13 January 2022 }}</ref>

{{Expand list|date=January 2022}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Books==
*Kenneth Clarke, ''[[Kind of Blue (book)|Kind of Blue]]'', Macmillan, 2016, {{ISBN|1-509-83719-1}}
*[[Michael Crick]], ''Michael Heseltine: A Biography'', Hamish Hamilton, 1997, {{ISBN|0-241-13691-1}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote|Ken Clarke}}
{{Commons category|Kenneth Clarke}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130212055656/http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Clarke_Kenneth.aspx Kenneth Clarke] official Conservative Party profile
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141111030037/http://www.debretts.com/people-of-today/profile/17863/Kenneth-Harry-CLARKE Debrett's People of Today]
*{{UK MP links | parliament = mr-kenneth-clarke/366 | hansard = mr-kenneth-clarke | hansardcurr = 2625 | guardian = 978/kenneth-clarke | publicwhip = Kenneth_Clarke | theywork = kenneth_clarke | record = Ken-Clarke/Rushcliffe/703 | bbc = 25686.stm | journalisted = kenneth-clarke }}
*{{NYTtopic|people/c/kenneth_clarke}}
*{{C-SPAN|55344}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSscu1LpZ_E&t=1103 In full: Ken Clarke says Dominic Cummings should 'vanish' and warns BBC needs protecting]
;Articles
*[https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,3604,1554302,00.html Smoke and mirrors], [[George Monbiot]], ''[[The Guardian]]'', 23 August 2005
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4244762.stm Conservative Leadership Watch] ''[[BBC News]]'', 30 September 2005
*[http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2010/03/shadow-cabinet-clarke-lost Lost leaders: Kenneth Clarke], Henry Smith, ''[[New Statesman]]'', 5 March 2010

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