Jane Kennedy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Kennedy in 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 22 November 2012 – 12 May 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Office established | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Emily Spurrell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Member of Parliament forLiverpool Wavertree Liverpool Broadgreen (1992–1997) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 9 April 1992 – 12 April 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Terry Fields | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Luciana Berger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Jane Elizabeth Hodgson (1958-05-04)4 May 1958 (age 67) Whitehaven,Cumberland, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Independent (since 2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Labour (until 2019) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Malcolm Kennedy (1977–1998) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Peter Dowling (partner) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Liverpool | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jane Elizabeth Kennedy (néeHodgson; born 4 May 1958) is a British politician and the inauguralMerseyside Police and Crime Commissioner. She wasMember of Parliament (MP) forLiverpool Wavertree, formerlyLiverpool Broadgreen, from1992 to2010.
Formerly a member of the Government, on 8 June 2009, she returned to the backbenches leaving her position as Minister of State for Farming and the Environment at theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.[1]
Originally a member of theLabour Party, she left the party in March 2019 after the resignation of her successor,Luciana Berger MP, and the announcement that formerLiverpool City councillorDerek Hatton – a former member of theMilitant tendency – had been re-admitted to party membership.[2]
She was born inWhitehaven,Cumberland, and attended Haughton Comprehensive School (now part of the 'Education Village') onRockwell Avenue inHaughton Le Skerne, thenQueen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington.[3] She studied chemistry at theUniversity of Liverpool from 1976 until 1978,[3] however did not graduate from her studies, deciding to marry and settle with her family in Liverpool.[4] She worked in social care forLiverpool City Council from 1979 to 1988, and in 1988 she became atrade union Area Organiser for theNational Union of Public Employees (NUPE) until 1992.[3] In Liverpool she had been active in ending theMilitant group'sinfiltration of the Liverpool Labour Party.[5]
Kennedy had been aMember of Parliament since the1992 general election, when she was elected for theLiverpool Broadgreen constituency. She served as a member of the social securityselect committee from 1992 to 1994, and in 1995 she was appointed as a Labourwhip.[6]
Her constituency was abolished for the1997 general election, but she was returned toParliament for the newLiverpool Wavertree constituency. Following Labour's victory in the 1997 election, she served as an assistant government whip until 1998 and as a government whip until 1999, sitting on theHouse of Commons administration select committee from 1997 until 1999.[6]
On 9 November 2009 she announced she would be standing down at the2010 general election.[7] It was announced in January 2010 the Wavertree Labour Party had pickedLuciana Berger as the candidate to succeed her.[8] This selection caused some controversy because Berger had stayed at Kennedy's home for a period before the selection, a home Kennedy shares with her partner Peter Dowling, the local Labour Party's agent.[9]
Kennedy was appointed as a junior minister in theLord Chancellor's Department from 1999 until 2001, when she became aMinister of State in theNorthern Ireland Office with responsibility for security and the justice system. Following the suspension of theNorthern Ireland Assembly in October 2002, she also became responsible for education and employment in the province. In 2003, she was made aPrivy Councillor.[10]
She transferred to theDepartment for Work and Pensions in 2004 and then to theDepartment of Health after the2005 general election, remaining a Minister of State. She left the government on 5 May 2006 during awide-ranging reshuffle. She was initially thought by journalists to have been sacked; however, she subsequently said she took the opportunity to resign from the government in light of concerns about the impact of the government's policies on theNational Health Service.[11]
InGordon Brown's first government since becomingPrime Minister, Kennedy was appointed as theFinancial Secretary to the Treasury, becoming the third ranked minister in the Treasury, taking on the ministerial responsibilities of the oldPaymaster General,Dawn Primarolo. On 5 October 2008, Kennedy was promoted toMinister of State at theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with the portfolio of Farming and the Environment. She resigned that position in June 2009 in protest at Gordon Brown's Leadership.[12]
Kennedy was elected to the post ofMerseyside Police and Crime Commissioner on 15 November 2012.[13] She was re-elected in 2016.[14]
In 2009 theHouses of Parliament started publishing MP expenses. Her partner Peter Dowling worked at her office handling research and parliamentary affairs,[15] and was paid out of her parliamentary expenses.[16]
Jane married Malcolm Kennedy in 1977 inKnowsley; they divorced in 1998. They have two sons, Robert (born 1978) and Alan (born 1983). She currently lives with her partner Peter Dowling.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLiverpool Broadgreen 1992 –1997 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forLiverpool Wavertree 1997 –2010 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Financial Secretary to the Treasury 2007–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health 2008–2009 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner 2012–2021 | Succeeded by |