Kristan Frederick Hopkins (born 8 June 1963) is a British Conservative Party politician, who was formerly the Member of Parliament for

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford, n ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. Elected in 2010, he served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a government

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

. He was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for

Department for Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 200 ...

and the former housing minister. He lost his seat in the 2017 general election.

Military career

Hopkins served in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as a Private in the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.

Academic career

According to his CV, on leaving the Army he completed a degree in

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

and

cultural studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

at Leeds University before going on to lecture in

media theory Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mos ...

, communications and

digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

. His CV gives neither dates nor places for any of these activities. He actually studied at Trinity and All Saints College in Horsforth, Leeds (now

Leeds Trinity University Leeds Trinity University is a public university in Horsforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally established to provide qualified teachers to Catholic schools, it gradually expanded and now offers foundation, undergraduate, and postgr ...

). The college's degrees at that time were awarded externally by the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

Political career

Before being elected, Hopkins had stood twice for Parliament: he was second both to Linda Riordan in the 2005 election for the seat of Halifax, and (previously) in

and for the Leeds West Constituency in 2001. Before his election to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, Hopkins had been a member of

Bradford Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the Local government in England, local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. ...

since 1998, rising to become the council's deputy leader in 2004 and leader in 2006. In 2012, Hopkins alleged that some Muslim gangs were targeting young white girls for rape, saying: "if we deny that fact in this House then the BNP and everybody else climbs on board" and suggested that law enforcement was hindered in pursuing them by " political correctness". In October 2013, Hopkins was appointed Minister for Housing. Conservative Party colleague Nadine Dorries called the promotion of Hopkins to a junior ministerial posts "a really awful decision", describing him on Twitter as "one of parliament's slimiest, nastiest MP's". Thérèse Coffey defended Hopkins, describing him as "authentic and brave" In the July 2014 reshuffle, Hopkins became minister for local government and adult social care. Following the May 2015 general election, Hopkins was appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household – a senior position within the whips' office. He was a losing candidate in the general election of 8 June 2017. He later became a Special Adviser at the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...

References

External links

Kris Hopkins
Official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Kris 1963 births Living people Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of Leeds Trinity University Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 Councillors in Bradford Duke of Wellington's Regiment soldiers Ministers of state for housing of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK) councillors 20th-century British Army personnel