Roy Kennedy, Baron Kennedy of Southwark

Roy Francis Kennedy, Baron Kennedy of Southwark (born 9 November 1962),[1] is a British Labour Co-operative Party politician and life peer.

The Right Honourable The Lord Kennedy of Southwark
Kennedy in 2019
Shadow Spokesperson for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Home Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 September 2015
Leader	Jeremy Corbyn Keir Starmer
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 June 2010 Life Peerage
Personal details
Born	9 November 1962
Political party	Labour Co-operative Party
Alma mater	St Thomas the Apostle School

Early life

Born in Lambeth to Irish parents, Kennedy grew up in Southwark, attending St Joseph's Primary School in Camberwell and St Thomas the Apostle School in Peckham.

Political career

In 1986, at the age of 23, Kennedy was elected to Southwark Council as a councillor for Newington ward. He subsequently held a variety of positions on the council, including Deputy Leader.

Appointed to the full-time staff of the Labour Party in 1990, he took up the post of organiser for the party in Coventry in 1991. He was instrumental in the defeat of the Militant MP Dave Nellist, who had been deselected as a Labour candidate, in the 1992 general election. In 1994, Kennedy moved to the East Midlands and was Regional Director from 1997 to 2005. At the end of 2005, he took up the post of Director of Finance and Compliance, joining the senior management team of the Labour Party.

He was appointed an Honorary Alderman by Southwark Council in 2007. He was made a life peer in Gordon Brown's dissolution honours list in 2010,[2] and was created Baron Kennedy of Southwark, of Newington in the London Borough of Southwark on 21 June 2010,[3] and he made his maiden speech in the House of Lords on 21 July 2010.[4]

On 30 September 2010, he left the employment of the Labour Party, after more than twenty years service, though remained a Labour Party trustee until April 2011.[5] The next day, 1 October 2010, he was appointed as an Electoral Commissioner, on the nomination of the Labour Party. He was the first ever Labour Party member to serve as an Electoral Commissioner, but decided to seek election to Lewisham Council in May 2014, rather than serve a second term on the Electoral Commission. He was replaced on the Electoral Commission by the former Minister and MP for Lewisham East, Bridget Prentice.[6]

Kennedy has been an Opposition Whip and Front-bench Spokesperson in the Lords on Cabinet Office, Justice and Housing, Communities and Local Government matters since October 2011.[7]

Since joining the Lords, he has spoken up in support of credit unions on numerous occasions and is the Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Credit Unions. He is a Director of London Mutual Credit Union, which is one of the largest and most successful credit unions in the UK.[8]

He is one of a group of 48 Labour MPs and Peers that are also members of the Cooperative Party Parliamentary Group.[9]

In early 2014, he was elected as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Voter Registration. He was elected in May 2014 to Lewisham Council, representing the ward of Crofton Park, "Mayoral, councillor and MEP election results 2014". London Borough of Lewisham. 24 May 2014., where he served a single term. Crofton Park ward is in the Lewisham Deptford parliamentary constituency.[10]

Community work

Kennedy is a trustee of the United St Saviour's Charity, which was founded in 1540 and funds a broad range of community initiatives and provides sheltered accommodation for retirees in Southwark.[11] He is also a trustee of the Ackroyd Community Centre, which hosts a variety of services for the local community across Forest Hill, Crofton Park and Honor Oak Park.[12]

Additionally, he is a governor of Morley College (a part of the Special Designated Institutes which includes City Lit, Ruskin College, the Workers' Educational Association, and Northern College),[13] President of the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists[14] (a small specialist trade union) and Vice President of the Southwark Chamber of Commerce.[15]

Personal life

Kennedy is a supporter and season ticket holder at Millwall Football Club.

His wife is Alicia Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of Cradley, a former Deputy General Secretary of the Labour Party and now life peer on the Labour benches.[16] She was also elected to Lewisham Council in May 2014, representing the ward of Brockley, in the same Lewisham Deptford Parliamentary Constituency as Lord Kennedy.[17]

References

1. "Debrett's homepage". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
2. Gordon Brown's 2010 dissolution honours list in full
3. "No. 59468". The London Gazette. 24 June 2010. p. 11914.
4. Lord Kennedy delivered his maiden speech on 21 July 2010.
5. "Electoral Commission Register of Interests December 2013" (PDF). Electoral Commission. January 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
6. "Home". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
7. "Labour Lords". Labour Lords. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
8. "London Mutual :: Your Local Banking Choice". Creditunion.co.uk. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
9. United Kingdom (20 November 2017). "The Co-operative Party". Party.coop. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
10. "Lewisham Council". Lewisham.gov.uk. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
11. https://www.supersonicplayground.com/ (10 November 2017). "Home". United St Saviour's Charity. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
12. http://www.ackroydcentre.org.uk
13. "Adult Education College in Central London". Morley College London. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
14. "College of Podiatry". Scpod.org. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
15. "Southwark Chamber of Commerce Supporting Business in Southwark". Southwark Chamber of Commerce. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
16. "Baroness Kennedy of Cradley". UK Parliament. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
17. "Lewisham Council". Lewisham.gov.uk. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2017.