Frank Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead
Frank Ernest Field, Baron Field of Birkenhead, CH, PC, DL (born 16 July 1942) is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birkenhead for 40 years, from 1979 to 2019, serving as a Labour MP until August 2018 and thereafter as an Independent. In 2019, he formed the Birkenhead Social Justice Party and stood unsuccessfully as its sole candidate in the 2019 election. After leaving the House of Commons he was awarded a life peerage in 2020 and sits in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.
The Right Honourable The Lord Field of Birkenhead CH PC DL | |
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Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee | |
| In office 18 June 2015 – 6 November 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Anne Begg |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Timms |
| Minister for Welfare Reform | |
| In office 2 May 1997 – 27 July 1998 | |
| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Peter Lilley |
| Succeeded by | John Denham |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 11 September 2020 Life peerage | |
| Member of Parliament for Birkenhead | |
| In office 3 May 1979 – 6 November 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Edmund Dell |
| Succeeded by | Mick Whitley |
| Member of Hounslow Council for Turnham Green | |
| In office 7 May 1964 – 9 May 1968 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 July 1942 Edmonton, Middlesex, England |
| Political party | None (crossbencher) |
| Other political affiliations |
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| Alma mater | University of Hull |
| Website | www.frankfield.co.uk |
From 1997 to 1998, Field served as the Minister of Welfare Reform in Tony Blair's government. Field resigned following differences with the Prime Minister; as a backbencher he soon became one of the Labour government's most vocal critics.
Field was elected Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee in June 2015. Following the 2017 general election he was re-elected unopposed.
In August 2018, Field resigned the Labour whip citing antisemitism in the party, as well as a "culture of intolerance, nastiness and intimidation" in parts of the party, including in his own constituency. Field lost a confidence vote in his constituency party a month before his resignation, after siding with the government in Brexit votes. His resignation of the whip also led to his departure from the wider membership of the Labour Party, according to the Labour National Executive Committee, although Field disputes this.