Charles Clarke was Member of Parliament for Norwich South from 1997 to 2010. He served as Education Minister from 1998 and then in the Home Office from 1999 to 2001. He then joined the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio and Labour Party Chair. From 2002 to 2004 he was Secretary of State for Education and Skills, and then Home Secretary until 2006. He now holds Visiting Professorships at Lancaster University and King’s College London, and works with educational organisations internationally. In 2014 he published The Too Difficult Box, an analysis of the problems which need to be overcome in promoting change, and in September 2015 two studies in political leadership, British Labour Leaders and British Conservative Leaders; in 2015 he co-wrote with Professor Linda Woodhead, A New Settlement, Religion and Belief in Schools; and in 2020 he co-wrote with Professor Ed Byrne, The University Challenge.