The Lord Kinnock | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 1995 | |
| Vice-President of the European Commission | |
| In office 16 September 1999 – 21 November 2004 Serving with Loyola de Palacio | |
| President | Romano Prodi |
| European Commissioner for Administrative Reform | |
| In office 16 September 1999 – 21 November 2004 | |
| President | Romano Prodi |
| Preceded by | Erkki Liikanen |
| Succeeded by | Siim Kallas |
| European Commissioner for Transport | |
| In office 16 February 1995 – 16 September 1999 | |
| President | Jacques Santer Manuel Marín (acting) |
| Preceded by | Karel Van Miert |
| Succeeded by | Loyola de Palacio |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 2 October 1983 – 18 July 1992 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher John Major |
| Preceded by | Michael Foot |
| Succeeded by | John Smith |
| Leader of the Labour Party | |
| In office 2 October 1983 – 18 July 1992 | |
| Deputy | Roy Hattersley |
| Preceded by | Michael Foot |
| Succeeded by | John Smith |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science | |
| In office 14 July 1979 – 2 October 1983 | |
| Leader | James Callaghan Michael Foot |
| Preceded by | Gordon Oakes |
| Succeeded by | Giles Radice |
| Member of the House of Lords | |
| Life peerage 28 January 2005 | |
| Member of Parliament for Islwyn Bedwellty (1970–1983) | |
| In office 18 June 1970 – 20 January 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Harold Finch |
| Succeeded by | Don Touhig |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Neil Gordon Kinnock 28 March 1942 Tredegar, Wales |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2, including Stephen |
| Alma mater | Cardiff University |
| Signature |  |
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock, PC (born 28 March 1942) is a Welsh politician who was Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.[1] He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1970 to 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was Vice-President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. Kinnock was considered to be on the soft left of the Labour Party.
Born and raised in South Wales, Kinnock was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1970 general election. He became the Labour Party's shadow education minister after the Conservatives won power in the 1979 general election. After the party under Michael Foot suffered a landslide defeat to Margaret Thatcher in the 1983 election, Kinnock was elected Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition. During his tenure as leader, Kinnock proceeded to fight the party's left wing, especially the Militant tendency, and he opposed NUM leader Arthur Scargill's methods in the 1984–1985 miners' strike. He led the party during most of the Thatcher government, which included its third successive election defeat when Thatcher won the 1987 general election. Although Thatcher had won another landslide, Labour regained sufficient seats for Kinnock to remain Leader of the Opposition following the election.
Kinnock led the Labour Party to a surprise fourth consecutive defeat at the 1992 general election, despite the party being ahead of John Major's Conservative government in most opinion polls, which had predicted either a narrow Labour victory or a hung parliament. Shortly afterwards, he resigned as Leader of the Labour Party; he was succeeded in the ensuing leadership election by John Smith. He left the House of Commons in 1995 to become a European Commissioner. He went on to become Vice-President of the European Commission under Romano Prodi from 1999 to 2004, before being elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Kinnock in 2005. Until the summer of 2009, he was also the chairman of the British Council and the president of Cardiff University.[2]
- ^ "Mr Neil Kinnock". Hansard. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ^ "Britishcouncil.org". Britishcouncil.org. Archived from the original on 15 July 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2010.