About John Battle (politician)
Sir John Dominic Battle, is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds West from 1987 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he served in government as Minister of State for Trade and Industry (1997–1999) and Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1999–2001) under Tony Blair. Against the national swing, Sir John won fairly easily and regained the Leeds West constituency for Labour. Sir John became the national coordinator for Church Action on Poverty in 1983 and in 1986, was selected to contest the seat of Leeds West, which had seen a shock result at the previous general election. In 2002, Sir John became a Member of the Privy Council and was the Prime Minister's envoy to all the faith communities until May 2010.
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