John Hendy, Baron Hendy

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The Right Honourable

The Lord Hendy

QC
Official portrait of Lord Hendy crop 2.jpg
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
16 October 2019
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born (1948-04-11) 11 April 1948 (age 73)
NationalityEnglish
Political partyLabour
OccupationBarrister

John Hendy, Baron Hendy, QC (born 11 April 1948) is an English barrister and politician acknowledged as one of the country's leading experts in UK labour law.[1]

Legal career[]

Once qualified as a lawyer, Hendy established a law centre, the Newham Rights Centre in East London, and worked there full-time for three years. He then lectured for a year at Middlesex Polytechnic, before returning to the Bar in 1977 and focusing on personal injury and industrial relations cases.[2]

In the mid 1980s he successfully represented Wendy Savage, a consultant obstetrician and gynecologist who was suspended from practice for alleged incompetence. The case led to him working on others in the area of medical negligence.[3]

In 1984-5 he represented the National Union of Mineworkers in the civil litigation arising out of the Miners' Strike. He took silk in 1987. In 1991, he was one of four QCs, along with Michael Mansfield, Geoffrey Robertson and , acting for the National Union of Mineworkers against claims that they had handled funds inappropriately during the miner's strike of 1984–85.[4] In 1992 he represented mining unions at the High Court against attempts to close 31 coal mines.[5]

In 1995, he acted for National Union of Journalists (NUJ) member Dave Wilson in the Wilson and Palmer v United Kingdom case that ended discrimination against trade unionists.[6]

In April 1999, he took over as head of Old Square Chambers, replacing .[7] By that year, seventy-six of his cases had made it into law reports.[2]

He is well known for representing the relatives of the victims of the Ladbroke Grove and Southall rail accidents.[8]

He retired from head of Old Square Chambers in 2009.[8]

In 2011, The Lawyer labeled him the "barrister champion of the trade union movement", noting that he often assists Unite, ASLEF and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers[9]

He represented the NUJ at the Leveson Inquiry and questioned Rupert Murdoch directly on 27 March 2012.[10]

House of Lords[]

Hendy was nominated for a life peerage in the 2019 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.[11] He was created Baron Hendy, of Hayes and Harlington in the London Borough of Hillingdon, on 15 October 2019.[12] He sits as a Labour peer in the House of Lords.[13] He made his maiden speech on 31 October 2019 during the Lords consideration of the Phase 1 Report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.[14]

Personal[]

His mother was the youngest daughter of the 6th Baron Wynford and his father was "a communist electrician and trade unionist".[15] He describes his father as "a great fighter for human dignity as a trade unionist" and as being the greatest influence on his life.[2] His brother is Sir Peter Hendy CBE, who was Commissioner of Transport for London from 2006 until 2015 and is now Chairman of Network Rail.[9]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ "Inquiry: John Hendy QC". The Lawyer. 1997-04-02. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Linda Tsang (1999-10-05). "'Seventy-six of my cases have made it into law reports' - Lawyer of the week - Interview - John Hendy QC". The Times.
  3. ^ Dowell, Katy (2009-11-11). "The Hendy-man can". The Lawyer. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  4. ^ Seumas Milne (17 September 2004). The enemy within: the secret war against the miners. Verso. p. 116. ISBN 978-1-84467-508-1. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  5. ^ Mary Fagan, Barrie Clement And Martin Whitfield (1992-10-16). "Judge to rule over mine shutdowns". The Independent. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  6. ^ "[1995] 2 AC 454 (HL) - Associated Newspapers Ltd v. Wilson; Associated British Ports v. Palmer". Old Square Chambers. Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  7. ^ "In brief: Old Square Chambers". The Lawyer. 1999-04-10. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Chellel, Kit (2009-04-27). "Old Square Chambers head steps down". The Lawyer. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "Brothers at arms Features". The Lawyer. 2011-10-10. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
  10. ^ Peck, Natalie (2012-04-26). "Murdoch endorses 'conscience clause' for journalists proposed by the NUJ". Hacked Off. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
  11. ^ "Resignation Peerages 2019" (PDF). Cabinet Office. 10 September 2019.
  12. ^ "No. 62801". The London Gazette. 21 October 2019. p. 18812.
  13. ^ "Lord Hendy". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  14. ^ Lord Hendy (31 October 2019). "Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Phase 1 Report". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Lords. col. 1048–1049.
  15. ^ John and Peter Hendy (2007-05-14). "Obituary: Mary Hendy". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
The Lord Ranger 		Gentlemen
Baron Hendy 		Followed by
The Lord Mann
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