English politician, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

James Purnell

James Mark Dakin Purnell is a British former Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde from 2001 to 2010 and also as a Cabinet minister from 2007 to 2009. After leaving parliament, Purnell was chair of Institute for Public Policy Research from 2010 to 2012 before joining the BBC as Director of Strategy from 2013 to 2016 and Director of Radio and Education from 2016 to 2020. In 2020 he was appointed vice-chancellor of University of the Arts London before leaving in 2024 to become CEO of Flint, a British international advisory business.

Born

1970

March 2

Died

Living

Era

1970s

Country

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About

James, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1970 Born

Also on March 2

What else happened on this day, through history

537 Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his bucellarii are almost cut off.
986 Louis V becomes the last Carolingian king of West Francia after the death of his father, Lothaire.
1331 Fall of Nicaea to the Ottoman Turks after a siege.
1444 Skanderbeg organizes a group of Albanian nobles to form the League of Lezhë.

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The world in 1970

When James arrived

april 1 President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law.
april 1 A Royal Air Maroc Sud Aviation Caravelle crashes near Berrechid, Morocco, killing 61.
april 10 Paul McCartney announces that he is leaving The Beatles for personal and professional reasons.
april 11 Apollo Program: Apollo 13 is launched.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on March 2

Arike Ogunbowale 1997– American basketball player Bedřich Smetana 1824–1884 Czech pianist and composer (died 1884) Camille Desmoulins 1760–1794 French journalist, lawyer, and politician (born 1760) Carl Schurz 1829–1906 German-American general, lawyer, and politician, 13th United States Secretary of the Interior (died 1906) Geoffrey Grigson 1905–1985 English poet and critic (died 1985) Lou Reed 1942–2013 American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor (died 2013) Marc Blitzstein 1905–1964 American pianist and composer (born 1905) Margaret Sibella Brown 1866– Canadian bryologist (died 1961) Method Man 1971– American rapper, record producer and actor

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1970

Adam Pascal 1970– American actor and singer Barry Pepper 1970– Canadian actor and producer Chorão 1970–2013 Brazilian singer-songwriter (died 2013) Dave Eggers 1970– American author and screenwriter Dawn Staley 1970– American basketball player Desmond Howard 1970– American football player and sportscaster Dominic Purcell 1970– English-Australian actor and producer Edoardo Ballerini 1970– American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter Emmanuel Petit 1970– French footballer

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James's birthday March 2 James's zodiac Pisces When James arrived 1970