Lord Larry Whitty

Biography

Lord (Larry) Whitty is a Labour peer. He was a member of the House of Lords EU Select Committee and Chair of its Sub Committee on the internal market, dealing intensively with Brexit and related matters until July 2019.

Lord Whitty spent his earlier career in the aviation industry and civil service. After a degree in Economics, he joined the Trade Union Movement at the TUC and then GMWU (now GMB). He became General Secretary of the Labour Party in 1984, later acting as Tony Blair’s contact on European matters. He became a member of the House of Lords in 1996 and served as Lords spokesperson in the Foreign Office after the 1997 General Election.

He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2001 - 2005.

After leaving Government in 2005, he became Chair of the National Consumer Council and Consumer Focus and Board Member of Ofwat and the Environment Agency. He also has served as chair or trustee of several charities in the fields of environment; road safety; fuel poverty and energy efficiency; and on the Board of companies dealing with energy efficiency and water retail. He has also conducted a number of Inquiries into energy, consumers and housing.