Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton

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The Right Honourable Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, PC (born 19 November 1951) is a British lawyer and Labour Party politician. In June 2003 he became the Lord Chancellor and the first Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs (a position created originally to replace the position of Lord Chancellor).

Educated at Trinity College, Glenalmond, and Queens College, Cambridge, Falconer became a flatmate of Tony Blair when they were both young barristers in London in the early 1970s. They had first met as pupils at rival schools in the 1960s. While Blair went into politics, Falconer concentrated on his legal career, practising from Fountain Court Chambers in London, and becoming a Queen's Counsel in 1991.

In May 1997 Blair became Prime Minister and Falconer was made a life peer as Baron Falconer of Thoroton, of Thoroton in the County of Nottinghamshire (he was the first peer created on Blair's recommendation), and joined the government as Solicitor General. In 1998 he became Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, taking over responsibility for the Millennium Dome after the resignation of Peter Mandelson. He was heavily criticised for the failure of the Dome to attract an audience, but resisted calls for his resignation.

He joined the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions as Minister for Housing, Planning and Regeneration after the 2001 election and moved on to the Home Office in 2002. At the Home Office he was responsible for criminal justice, sentencing and law reform, and annoyed some of his fellow lawyers by suggesting that their fees were too high.

In 2003 he joined the Cabinet as the first Constitutional Affairs Secretary in what many have come to regard as a rather hasty cabinet re-shuffle. This was confirmed by the government announcement that the office of Lord Chancellor was to be abolished without even informing the monarch. The following day it emerged that this announcement was incorrect, and that the Lord Chancellor was required by statute to sit in the House of Lords. Many have also criticised the chosen name as a sign of the unwelcomed americanisation of the uncodified UK constitution. The post of Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs took over many of the responsibilites of the Lord Chancellor, the Welsh Secretary and the Scottish Secretary. Lord Falconer of Thoroton remained Lord Chancellor while the process to abolish the office was started, but announced his intention not to use the Lord Chancellor's power to sit as a judge. He has also stopped wearing the traditional robe and wig of office. Many now suggest that his apparent failure regarding the Dome has been replicated by his apparent failure to understand and interpret correctly the national constitution. The replacement of Lord Irvine of Lairg, Blair's mentor, with Lord Falconer of Thoroton, one of his best friends, gave Blair's opponents a further opportunity to criticise the role of "Tony's cronies" in the government.

Preceded by: The Lord Irvine of Lairg	Lord Chancellor 2003—	Current Incumbent
Preceded by: —	Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs 2003—
Preceded by: The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury	United Kingdom Order of Precedence (gentlemen) (England and Wales)	Succeeded by: The Rt. Hon. Tony Blair
Preceded by: Ivan McKay	United Kingdom Order of Precedence (gentlemen) (Northern Ireland)
Preceded by: Sheriff Principal (within term and bounds of Sherriffdom)	United Kingdom Order of Precedence (gentlemen) (Scotland)	Succeeded by: Dr Alison Elliot