David Neil Kidney (born 21 March 1955) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

from

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Early life

Kidney attended Pinewood Primary School in Meir (now the new Crescent Primary School), Longton High School then the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. He studied law at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, receiving an LLB. Kidney was a solicitor from 1977 to 1979 in

Hanley Hanley is one of the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke- ...

then in

from 1979 to 1997, and a

Borough councillor from 1987 to 1997. He was a parish councillor of Checkley from 1983 to 1987.

Political career

Having fought the seat unsuccessfully in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, Kidney was Member of Parliament for

from 1997, when he defeated

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

candidate

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

, to 2010, when he lost to the Conservative candidate Jeremy Lefroy by 5,460 votes in a 7.4% swing. He served on the Modernisation Committee from 2001 to 2005 and was a member of the

Treasury Select Committee The House of Commons Treasury Committee (often referred to as the Treasury Select Committee) is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The committee is responsible for examining and scrutinizing the ...

from 1997 to 2001. He was a ministerial aide in the Environment team (for which no additional remuneration is given), but resigned in 2003 when he voted against the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

. He became PPS to Elliot Morley Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in November 2005, and in 2006 he became the PPS to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,

David Miliband David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member o ...

. Following this, Kidney was PPS to

Rosie Winterton Rosalie Winterton, Baroness Winterton of Doncaster, (born 10 August 1958), is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster Central from 1997 to 2024. She served as a Deputy Speaker in the House of ...

, then

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for Work and Pensions. He also served as Chair and an officer of several All-Party Groups, including Environment and Conservation & Wildlife. He recently agreed to chair a new All-Party Group formed to highlight the role of science and technology in British agriculture. Kidney also chaired the Associate Parliamentary Group for Looked after Children & Care Leavers and the "Fair Funding F40" group of the 40 lowest funded schools areas in England, campaigning for fairer funding for local schools. In the June 2009 reshuffle Kidney entered the Government as a minister for the first time, becoming Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Energy and Climate Change, replacing Joan Ruddock.

Later career

After losing his seat Kidney was employed as head of policy at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. He then became Chief Executive of the UK Public Health Register.

Personal life

He has two children, Robert and Katy, and is divorced from Elaine. Kidney has since remarried. He supports the football team Port Vale.

References

External links

David Kidney
official site

* ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/david_kidney/stafford TheyWorkForYou.com – David Kidney MP
BBC Politics page
*

News items

Caught in a forest fire in Greece in 2006

Campaigning about prejudice against breastfeeding in 2005

Questioning closure of RAF Stafford in 2004

Resigning from the government in 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidney, David Alumni of the University of Bristol Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Longton, Staffordshire UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 1955 births Living people Councillors in Staffordshire School governors Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stafford