Denis Tunnicliffe is one of our two Deputy Chief Whips in the House of Lords. He became a life Peer in 2004, spent two years in the last Labour government as a Whip (2008-2010) and also spoke from the frontbench on International Development (2008-2009), Defence and Justice matters.
Denis started his career as a pilot at BOAC, during which time he became a pilots’ representative. In 1972, he was invited to give up flying and join the management team, where he stayed during the inception of British Airways. Denis left in 1986 after serving in industrial relations, crew planning, fuel procurement, internal consultancy and marketing.
Denis joined London Underground in 1988 as Managing Director, before becoming Chairman of London Underground and Chief Executive of London Transport in 1998. He oversaw the building of the Jubilee Line extension as well as the dramatic safety upgrades and investment on the wider Underground. He left London Transport at the point of handover of the buses and central functions to the Mayor in 2000. From 2002 to 2004, Denis was non-executive Chairman of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. He has also served as non-executive Chairman of the Rail Safety and Standards Board, a trustee of Homerton College, Cambridge; Royal Holloway College, University of London; the ACT Foundation and a non-executive director of the economics consultancy, CEBR.
Denis has been an active member of the Labour Party since 1971 and served as a Labour councillor in Berkshire in the 1970s and 1980s. Outside of work, Denis enjoys boating on the Thames and the theatre.
For more information, read Denis' Parliamentary biography - available here.
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