Stephen Kinnock

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Person.png Stephen KinnockRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
Stephen Kinnock.jpg
Born1 January 1970
Member ofLabour Renaissance
Husband of Danish PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Employment.png Labour MP for Aberavon

In office
7 May 2015 - Present
EmployerUK
(L to R) daughter Johanna, wife Helle, Stephen, dad Neil and mum Glenys

Stephen Nathan Kinnock (born 1 January 1970) is a British Labour Party politician who was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberavon at the United Kingdom General Election on 7 May 2015.[1]

Stephen Kinnock, son of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock romped home to victory in the Aberavon constituency in south Wales - beating nearest rivals the Tories by more than 10,000 votes. The 45-year-old beamed with delight after hearing the news in Neath Sports Centre and hugged wife Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who is the Prime Minister of Denmark. Kinnock said he was proud to be following in his father's footsteps in becoming an MP - but wanted to be known for his own achievements. In a pre-election interview with the Daily Mirror, he described himself as "a socialist, a democratic socialist”, and voiced his support for trade unions and collective bargaining. He comes from a political dynasty – along with his father, his sister Rachel works for Ed Miliband and his mother Glenys was a Labour MEP.

And he insisted being married to the Danish leader would not distract him from his duties as MP:

“I will be a Westminster MP from Monday to Thursday and in my constituency on the weekend. We'll have to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in next week,” he said. “If we are in Opposition, that's what we'll have to do."

Asked what had gone wrong for his party, Stephen Kinnock pointed the finger at the SNP and its leader Nicola Sturgeon:

“The message – that was clearly a myth and not correct – that the Scottish Nationalists were going to be controlling the agenda did cut through,” he said. “I think it scared a lot of English voters. Nobody wanted the divisive message that the Scottish Nationalists were peddling.”[2]

Career

After attending Drayton Manor High School, and having achieved a degree in Modern Languages from Queens' College, Cambridge, Stephen Kinnock won a scholarship to study at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, where he met fellow student Helle and gained an MA. Kinnock worked as a research assistant at the European Parliament in Brussels before becoming a British Council Development and Training Services executive based in Brussels from 1997.

Following the closure, imposed by the Russian authorities, of the of the British Council's St Petersburg office,[3][4][5] Kinnock took up a position with the British Council in Sierra Leone.[6]

From January 2009 he was employed by the World Economic Forum based in Geneva, Switzerland, as director, head of Europe and Central Asia.[7]

Business adviser

In August 2012 Kinnock took up a position at Xyntéo in London, a business advisory company that helps global businesses go beyond the green basics and reinvent the way they grow. Kinnock is managing director of the "Global Leadership and Technology Exchange",[8] a partnership which aims to bring together some of the world's leading businesses to discuss and act upon routes that can be taken to bring about resource-efficient growth.[9][10]

Labour candidate

In March 2014 it was announced that Stephen Kinnock had been selected as the Labour Party candidate for the seat of Aberavon in Wales for the General Election of 2015.[11]

He has been referred to as a "red prince", being one of several sons of senior Labour Party figures to have been selected for safe seats.[12]

On 7 May 2015 he was elected MP for Aberavon in South Wales with a majority of 10,445.

Personal life

Stephen Kinnock was born in Tredegar, the son of Welsh politicians Glenys and Neil Kinnock.[13] He has been married to the Prime Minister of Denmark Helle Thorning-Schmidt since 1996. The couple have two daughters.[14]

In June 2010, the Danish tabloid B.T. accused Kinnock of tax evasion.[15] At that time he was paying tax in Switzerland where his workplace was situated, and therefore had his main residence there, although his wife's political website states that "The family lives in Østerbro in Copenhagen".[16] The couple had previously stated to the media that Kinnock would spend his weekends in Denmark, sometimes including Thursday, and that he regarded his home and base as being exclusively with his family in Copenhagen. According to the tabloid, he would possibly exceed 183 days a year in Denmark, meaning he would be fully taxable there. Helle Thorning-Schmidt repudiated the accusations but said the couple would ask the Danish tax authority for an audit.[17][18] The audit by the Danish Tax & Customs Administration (SKAT) was concluded on 17 September 2010, and in its Official Report SKAT stated that "Mr Kinnock does not have tax liability for 2007, 08, or 09, as he does not reside in this country within the meaning of the Danish Tax at Sources Act".[19][20]

References

  1. ↑ "Proud to be the Labour Party candidate for Aberavon"
  2. ↑ "Stephen Kinnock follows in the footsteps of his father Neil to become Labour MP for Aberavon"
  3. ↑ "Russia warned over 'intimidation'", BBC News 16 Jan 2008
  4. ↑ "'Now we really have a crisis' – Russia's man in London leaving the Foreign Office yesterday", The Guardian 17 Jan 2008
  5. ↑ "British Unit Is Alleging 'Intimidation' By Moscow: Culture Offices Shut In Growing Dispute", Washington Post 18 Jan 2008
  6. ↑ "Daily Hansard" (end of column 1128), House of Commons Publications and Reports 20 Mar 2008
  7. ↑ "Stephen Kinnock to head World Economic Forum's Europe and Central Asia team", World Economic Forum (WEF) press release 2 Dec 2008
  8. ↑ "Xyntéo press release", 24 Aug 2012
  9. ↑ "managing director of the GLTE partnership"
  10. ↑ "Dr Osvald M Bjelland, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer", Xyntéo
  11. ↑ "Neil Kinnock's son Stephen selected to fight Aberavon seat". BBC News. 22 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  12. ↑ "Red Prince Stephen Kinnock selected for safe Labour seat"
  13. ↑ "Stephen Kinnock og spørgsmålet om beskatning i Danmark" (PDF) (in Danish). The Danish Union of Journalists. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 15 September 2011.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "Scribunto").
  14. ↑ "BBC profile of Helle Thorning-Schmidt"
  15. ↑ B.T. afslører Helle Thorning og manden : Scorer kassen i skattely, B.T., 23 June 2010 (in Danish)
  16. ↑ Helle afsløret af bommert på egen hjemmeside, B.T., 24 June 2010 (in Danish)
  17. ↑ "Opposition leader requests audit of husband", The Copenhagen Post, 24 June 2010
  18. ↑ "Kinnock's son faces fresh tax allegations", Daily Telegraph, 14 August 2010
  19. ↑ "Thorning-Schmidt eyes victory"
  20. ↑ "Nordic Social Democrat parties are losing their historic power"
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