The Rt Hon. Clare Short is a British politician and former Labour Party MP. She is currently Chair of Cities Alliance, an intergovernmental advocacy organization committed to meeting the UN target to abolish slums in cities across the globe. In 1997 she became the first cabinet-level Secretary of State for the Department of International Development (DfID). During her time in government Clare established DfID as a newly independent department of state, raising the UK’s international profile and budget for sustainable development and the elimination of global poverty.
In 2003, Clare resigned her role as Secretary of State over the Iraq War and published An Honourable Deception? New Labour, Iraq and the Misuse of Power.
Since leaving the UK government, Clare has continued to campaign on development issues, serving as a trustee of Trade Out of Poverty, the Welfare Association, and African Humanitarian Action. From 2011 to February 2016 Clare was Chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an NGO which works to promote public awareness of how countries manage their oil, gas and mineral resources. She is also a patron of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
