Lord John Matthew Patrick Hutton has garnered a large amount of attention since Declassified publicised his ownership of a major supplier of military equipment back in April of last year. A campaign to unseat him from his positions in local institutions is currently ongoing, and has gained some success – with him losing his position at the head of the Hall for Cornwall in mid-September. His background in politics and business is extensive, yet unknown by many. 

Lord Hutton is a man whose history in politics and business constitutes a life at the very top of what researchers label the “Shadow World”. A former Defence Minister under Gordon Brown, Hutton went on later in his life to enter the world of business, most contentiously in the arms trade. 

Hutton in London, a life at the top.

Hutton is a man that from his early adulthood was at the top of government. In 1992, at the beginning of the Blair project, he was elected as MP for Barrow and Furness. From this point he would grow increasingly close with the collective of Blair, Mandelson, and Brown, who in 1997 made up the first Labour cabinet in 18 years. Hutton was appointed to a number of cabinet positions during the Blair and Brown eras, including Minister for Health, Secretary of state for Work and Pensions, and importantly, the Secretary of State for Defence. 

In his roles in various cabinet positions, he oversaw a surge in the use of private finance to build public infrastructure such as schools and hospitals – thereby ensuring the public sector’s dependency on the private. He has continued this trend in his position as a high-profile Labour peer, at the head of PFI advocacy group The Association of Infrastructure Investors in Public Private Partnerships.

Hutton’s time as Defence Minister saw a little-known controversy, in which he was named in a 2009 lawsuit lodged by human rights organisation Al-Haq over illegal arms sales to Israel during a time of increased brutality by the Israeli state towards the people of Gaza. He was named in the company of then-Foreign Secretary David Miliband and then-Secretary for Business and Trade Peter Mandelson.

Hutton in the private realm – a lobbyist and an arms manufacturer in the shadows:

Named Lord Hutton of Furness by the outgoing PM in 2010, he began his retirement by immediately entering the upper-echelons of the private sector. Amongst the positions he has held in recent years, Hutton has been appointed Non-Executive Chair of Scottish Power and Chair of the London Luton Airport Operating Company during its newest stage of development of the Luton airport.

Despite sitting in the House of Lords, his register of interests is a long list of important names in the private sector. The job which has attracted the most attention is his chairmanship of Pearson Engineering Ltd since October of 2022.

Pearson Engineering is a supplier of military equipment, and since August of 2022 has been owned by Rafael, an arms company under the direct control of the State of Israel. Although their website explicitly states they do not sell weapons to the Israeli Defence Forces, their ownership by the Israeli state has attracted the attention of campaigners against the genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Pearson has been the direct target of campaigns by activists in Newcastle upon Tyne, where the company is based. This includes vandalism and blockades by Palestine Action in February 2025, and a prolonged campaign by local activists to blockage the factory during the opening hours of the Pearson factory. Recently, videos showed activists brutalised by the firms private security and the police sent to dispel the blockage.

Hutton in Cornwall – in over his head.

In May of 2024, Hutton was appointed by the government as the Chair of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Economic Forum, alongside Emma Hunt, Vice Chancellor of Falmouth University as Vice Chair of the Economic Forum. The Forum is yet another body advocating for private sector interests, and has a not-insignificant degree of influence over Cornwall Council policy. He also held the position of Chair of the Hall for Cornwall for over 3 years.

When local campaigners caught wind of this, they moved to pressure his resignation from Pearson, or secure his resignation or sacking from these institutions. A demonstration was staged outside of a full Cornwall Council meeting in County Hall, Truro, in April. Alongside this, a letter addressing Hutton’s alleged complicity in genocide was drafted by the those who were arrested on the steps of Truro Cathedral in defiance of the ban on support for Palestine Action on the 19th of July.

Further, a question put to a full meeting of Cornwall Council on the 16th of September prompted the response from Leigh Frost, Leader of Cornwall Council: “a written response would be provided by the Leader in respect of the contractual position of the Chairman of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Economic Forum, given his involvement with a military company linked with Israel.”

During this campaign, local activists and Cobblestone Media revealed that Hutton was given no choice but to resign from his position at the Hall for Cornwall, signalling a major win for the campaign.

The ongoing genocide in Gaza has reached a death toll of well over 60,000 at time of writing, and according to some scholars has reached a toll of over 600,000. Journalists have routinely revealed that protests against the UK’s alleged complicity in the increasing destruction of Palestinian society and life have been quashed under the influence of Israeli-owned arms manufacturers.

Image Via: Sebastian Zwez, Creative Commons 3.0.