Larry Whitty, Baron Whitty

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John Lawrence Whitty, Baron Whitty, PC (born 15 June 1943), known as Larry Whitty, is a British Labour Party politician.

Born in 1943, Whitty was educated at Latymer Upper School and graduated from St John's College, Cambridge with a BA (Hons) degree in Economics. He worked for Hawker Siddeley Aviation from 1960 to 1962 and at the Ministry of Aviation Technology from 1965 to 1970.

He was employed by the Trades Union Congress from 1970 to 1973 and the General Municipal Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union from 1973 to 1985.

In 1985, Whitty became the General Secretary of the Labour Party, a post he held until 1994. He oversaw the 1987 and 1992 general elections and presided over many changes in the Party, including the expulsion of Militant Tendency and the election of John Smith and Tony Blair as Leaders of the Party. He was the European Co-ordinator for the Labour Party from 1994 to 1997.

Larry Whitty was created a Life Peer in 1996 as Baron Whitty, of Camberwell in the London Borough of Southwark. From July 1998, Lord Whitty was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions with responsibility for roads and road safety issues. From 1997 Lord Whitty was a Lord-in-Waiting (Government Whip) covering education and foreign affairs. Lord Whitty became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at DEFRA with responsibility for Farming, Food and Sustainable Energy in June 2001, serving in this position until the general election of May 2005.

Lord Whitty is married, with two sons from a previous marriage.