David Kidney

David Kidney
Member of Parliament for Stafford
In office 1 May 1997 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Bill Cash
Succeeded by	Jeremy Lefroy
Personal details
Born	21 March 1955 (1955-03-21) (age 56) Meir, Stoke-on-Trent
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	University of Bristol

David Neil Kidney (born 21 March 1955) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stafford from 1997 to 2010.

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, receiving an LLB. Kidney was a solicitor from 1977-79 in Hanley then in Stafford from 1979-97, and a Stafford Borough councillor from 1987-97. He was a parish councillor of Checkley from 1983-7.

Political career

Kidney was Member of Parliament for Stafford from 1997, when he defeated Conservative candidate David Cameron, to 2010, when he lost to the Conservative candidate Jeremy Lefroy by 5,460 votes in a 7.4% swing.^[1]

He served on the Modernisation Committee from 2001 - 2005 and was a member of the Treasury Select Committee from 1997-2001. He was an unpaid Ministerial aide in the Environment team, but resigned in 2003 when he voted against the Iraq War. 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. Following this, Kidney was PPS to Rosie Winterton, then Minister of State 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.^[2] 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.

Personal life

He has two children, Robert and Katy, and is married to Elaine. Kidney is also a school governor for Silkmore Primary School. He supports the football team Port Vale.

References

1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/election_2010/england/8662388.stm
2. ^ http://www.davidkidney.com/davids_biography?PublishKey=770c4d8d-a678-1d44-05f2-f8e494bd210b

External links

• David Kidney official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: David Kidney MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - David Kidney MP
• BBC Politics page
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by David Kidney

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

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Bill Cash	Member of Parliament for Stafford 1997–2010	Succeeded by Jeremy Lefroy

Persondata
Name	Kidney, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	21 March 1955
Place of birth	Meir, Stoke-on-Trent
Date of death
Place of death