Jack Dunnett

John Jacob Dunnett (24 June 1922 – 26 October 2019) was a British Labour Party politician, solicitor, and football club chairman. He died in London in October 2019 at the age of 97.

Early life Dunnett was born in Maryhill, Glasgow, to Jewish parents who moved the family south to Croydon when he was a boy. He served in the forces during World War II, first in the Royal Fusiliers and then in the Cheshire Regiment from June 1941 to December 1946, reaching the rank of Captain.

Dunnett was elected at the 1964 general election as Member of Parliament for Nottingham Central and held the seat until it was abolished in boundary changes for the 1974 election. He was then returned for the new Nottingham East constituency until the 1983 general election in which he did not stand; the seat then fell to the Conservatives. During the 1964–70 Labour Government, he was parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Fred Mulley during the latter's time as Minister for Aviation (1965–67), Disarmament (1967–69), and Transport (1969–70). and the only time he broke the whip was to vote against the Labour government's refusal to give council housing tenants the right to buy their properties. In January 1967, following poor gates, he discussed a merger with Jim Gregory of Queens Park Rangers of the two clubs. Subsequently, Queens Park Rangers won promotion to the First Division and then to the Premier League.

Dunnett was Chairman of Notts County from 1967, financing the club's regular annual losses by making interest free loans from his company, Park Street Securities. The Club paid a low rent to their landlords who were Nottingham Council. Dunnett inaugurated a fundraising scheme "life line" in 1986. Then in 1987, he stood down as Director and sold all his shares to Derek Pavis, completely severing his connection with the club.

Dunnett was elected President of the Football League (1981–86 and 1988–89), and was vice-president of the Football Association for the same period. He was a member of the Football Association's executive committee at the time of the Hillsborough disaster.