Neil Kinnock: Difference between revisions

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Rescuing 1 sources and tagging 0 as dead. #IABot (v1.6.2)
Line 158: Line 158:
Kinnock was appointed one of the UK's two members of the [[European Commission]], which he served first as Transport Commissioner under President [[Jacques Santer]], in early 1995; marking the end of his 25 years in the House of Commons.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/conservatives-trounced-in-poll-1573413.html | location=London | work=The Independent | title=Conservatives trounced in poll | date=17 February 1995}}</ref> This came less than a year after the death of his successor, [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]] and the election of [[Tony Blair]] as the party's new leader.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2515000/2515825.stm | work=BBC News | title=1994: Labour chooses Blair | date=21 July 1994}}</ref>
Kinnock was appointed one of the UK's two members of the [[European Commission]], which he served first as Transport Commissioner under President [[Jacques Santer]], in early 1995; marking the end of his 25 years in the House of Commons.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/conservatives-trounced-in-poll-1573413.html | location=London | work=The Independent | title=Conservatives trounced in poll | date=17 February 1995}}</ref> This came less than a year after the death of his successor, [[John Smith (Labour Party leader)|John Smith]] and the election of [[Tony Blair]] as the party's new leader.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2515000/2515825.stm | work=BBC News | title=1994: Labour chooses Blair | date=21 July 1994}}</ref>


He was obliged to resign as part of the forced, collective [[Santer Commission#Resignation|resignation of the Commission]] in 1999. He was re-appointed to the Commission under new President [[Romano Prodi]]. He now became one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Commission, with responsibility for Administrative Reform and the Audit, Linguistics and Logistics Directorates General.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ippr.org/staff-profiles/58/637/neil-kinnock |title=Neil Kinnock > Policy Advisory Council |publisher=IPPR |date= |accessdate=25 September 2013}}</ref> His term of office as a Commissioner was due to expire on 30 October 2004, but was delayed owing to the withdrawal of the new Commissioners. During this second term of office on the Commission, he was responsible for introducing new staff regulations for EU officials, a significant feature of which was substantial salary cuts for everyone employed after 1 May 2004, reduced pension prospects for many others, and gradually worsening employment conditions. This made him disliked by many EU staff members, although the pressure on budgets that largely drove these changes had actually been imposed on the Commission from above by the Member States in Council.
He was obliged to resign as part of the forced, collective [[Santer Commission#Resignation|resignation of the Commission]] in 1999. He was re-appointed to the Commission under new President [[Romano Prodi]]. He now became one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Commission, with responsibility for Administrative Reform and the Audit, Linguistics and Logistics Directorates General.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ippr.org/staff-profiles/58/637/neil-kinnock |title=Neil Kinnock > Policy Advisory Council |publisher=IPPR |date= |accessdate=25 September 2013 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927045158/http://www.ippr.org/staff-profiles/58/637/neil-kinnock |archivedate=27 September 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> His term of office as a Commissioner was due to expire on 30 October 2004, but was delayed owing to the withdrawal of the new Commissioners. During this second term of office on the Commission, he was responsible for introducing new staff regulations for EU officials, a significant feature of which was substantial salary cuts for everyone employed after 1 May 2004, reduced pension prospects for many others, and gradually worsening employment conditions. This made him disliked by many EU staff members, although the pressure on budgets that largely drove these changes had actually been imposed on the Commission from above by the Member States in Council.


In February 2004, it was announced that with effect from 1 November 2004, Kinnock would become head of the [[British Council]]. Coincidentally, at the same time, his son [[Stephen Kinnock|Stephen]] became head of the British Council branch in [[St. Petersburg, Russia]]. At the end of October, it was announced that he would become a member of the [[House of Lords]] (intending to be a working peer), when he was able to leave his EU responsibilities. In 1977, he had remained in the House of Commons, with [[Dennis Skinner]], while other MPs walked to the Lords to hear the [[Queen's speech]] opening the new parliament. He had dismissed going to the Lords in recent interviews. Kinnock explained his change of attitude, despite the continuing presence of ninety hereditary peers and appointment by patronage, by asserting that the Lords was a good base for campaigning.
In February 2004, it was announced that with effect from 1 November 2004, Kinnock would become head of the [[British Council]]. Coincidentally, at the same time, his son [[Stephen Kinnock|Stephen]] became head of the British Council branch in [[St. Petersburg, Russia]]. At the end of October, it was announced that he would become a member of the [[House of Lords]] (intending to be a working peer), when he was able to leave his EU responsibilities. In 1977, he had remained in the House of Commons, with [[Dennis Skinner]], while other MPs walked to the Lords to hear the [[Queen's speech]] opening the new parliament. He had dismissed going to the Lords in recent interviews. Kinnock explained his change of attitude, despite the continuing presence of ninety hereditary peers and appointment by patronage, by asserting that the Lords was a good base for campaigning.

Revision as of 15:22, 15 February 2018

Not to be confused with Nile Kinnick.

PC
Vice-President of the European Commission
Member of Parliament for Islwyn
Bedwellty (1970–1983)
In office
18 June 1970 – 16 February 1995
Preceded byHarold Finch
Succeeded byDon Touhig
Personal details
Born
Neil Gordon Kinnock

(1942-03-28) 28 March 1942 (age 82)
Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Glenys Parry
​
(m. 1967)​
Children
Alma materCardiff University

Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock,

1992
.

Kinnock led the Labour Party to a surprise fourth consecutive defeat at the

1992 general election, despite the party being ahead in most opinion polls; which had predicted either a narrow Labour victory or a hung parliament. Afterwards, he resigned as Leader of the Labour Party after nine years and from the House of Commons in 1995. Three years later, he became a European Commissioner. He went on to become the Vice-President of the European Commission under Romano Prodi from 1999-2004. Until the summer of 2009, he was also the Chairman of the British Council and the President of Cardiff University.[1]

Early life

Kinnock, an only child, was born in

heart attack in November 1971 aged 64;[6] Mary died the following month aged 61.[6]

In 1953, at eleven years old, Kinnock began his

University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire in Cardiff (now Cardiff University), where he graduated with a degree in Industrial Relations and History in 1965. The following year, Kinnock obtained a postgraduate diploma in education. Between August 1966 and May 1970, he worked as a tutor for a Workers' Educational Association (WEA).[7]

He has been married to

Glenys Kinnock since 1967. They have two children – son Stephen Kinnock (born January 1970, now a Labour MP), and daughter Rachel Kinnock (born 1971).[8]

Member of Parliament

In June 1969, he won the Labour Party nomination for

House of Commons on 18 June 1970, and became a member of the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party
in October 1978. On his becoming an MP for the first time, his father said "Remember Neil, MP stands not just for Member of Parliament, but also for Man of Principle."

The Labour government policy at that time was in favour of

Wales referendum, 1979
, the proposal for devolution was rejected.

Following Labour's defeat at the

Shadow Cabinet as Education spokesman. His ambition was noted by other MPs, and David Owen's opposition to the changes to the electoral college was thought to be motivated by the realisation that they would favour Kinnock's succession. He remained as Education spokesman following the resignation of Callaghan as Leader of the Labour Party and the election of Michael Foot
as his successor in late 1980.

In 1981, when still serving as Labour's Education spokesman, Kinnock was alleged to have effectively scuppered Tony Benn's attempt to replace Denis Healey as Labour's Deputy Leader by first supporting the candidacy of the more traditionalist Tribunite John Silkin and then urging Silkin supporters to abstain on the second, run-off, ballot.

He was known as a left-winger, and gained prominence for his attacks on Margaret Thatcher's handling of the Falklands War in 1982, although it was in fact this conflict which saw support for the Conservative government increase, and contribute to its landslide re-election the following year.

Leadership of the Labour Party

See also: Shadow Cabinet of Neil Kinnock

First period (1983–1987)

Neil Kinnock meeting leader of the Dutch Labour Party Joop den Uyl in 1984

After Labour's landslide defeat in

elected as Labour Party leader on 2 October 1983, with 71% of the vote, and Roy Hattersley was elected as his deputy; their prospective partnership was considered to be a "dream ticket".[10]

His first period as party leader – between the

Tribune left
of the party, he parted company with many of his former allies after his appointment to the Shadow Cabinet.

The Labour Party was also threatened by the rise of the

middle-class than the idea of redistributing wealth to benefit the poor. He accepted membership in the European Economic Community, whereas the party had pledged immediate withdrawal from it under Michael Foot. He discarded the rhetoric of class warfare.[12]

All this meant that Kinnock had made plenty of enemies on the left-wing of the party by the time he was elected as leader, though a substantial number of former Bennites gave him strong support. He was almost immediately in serious difficulty as a result of

praetorian guard and the strike convulsed the Labour movement.[who?] Kinnock supported the aim of the strike – which he dubbed the "case for coal" – but, as an MP from a mining area, was bitterly critical of the tactics employed. When heckled at a Labour Party rally for referring to the killing of David Wilkie as "an outrage", Kinnock lost his temper and accused the hecklers of "living like parasites off the struggle of the miners" and implied that Scargill had lied to the striking miners.[13] In 1985, he made his criticisms public in a speech to Labour's conference:[14]

The strike wore on. The violence built up because the single tactic chosen was that of mass picketing, and so we saw policing on a scale and with a system that has never been seen in Britain before. The court actions came, and by the attitude to the court actions, the NUM leadership ensured that they would face crippling damages as a consequence. To the question: "How did this position arise?", the man from the lodge in my constituency said: "It arose because nobody really thought it out."

In 2004, Kinnock said of Scargill, "Oh I detest him. I did then, I do now, and it's mutual. He hates me as well. And I'd much prefer to have his savage hatred than even the merest hint of friendship from that man."[15]

The strike's defeat early in the year,

Militant group were the immediate context for the 1985 Labour Party conference.[17] Earlier in the year left-wing councils had protested at Government restriction of their budgets by refusing to set budgets, resulting in a budget crisis in the Militant-dominated Liverpool City Council
. Kinnock attacked Militant and their conduct in a speech delivered at the conference:

I'll tell you what happens with impossible promises. You start with far-fetched resolutions. They are then pickled into a rigid dogma, a code, and you go through the years sticking to that, outdated, misplaced, irrelevant to the real needs, and you end in the grotesque chaos of a Labour council – a Labour council – hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers ... I am telling you, no matter how entertaining, how fulfilling to short-term egos – you can't play politics with people's jobs and with people's services or with their homes.[18]

One Liverpool MP,

West London from the Conservatives in an April by-election.[21] Labour, now sporting a continental social democratic style emblem of a rose (replacing the party's first logo, the Liberty logo), appeared to be able to run the governing Conservatives close, but Margaret Thatcher
did not let Labour's makeover go unchallenged.

The Conservatives' 1986 conference was well-managed, and effectively relaunched the Conservatives as a party of radical

unilateral nuclear disarmament), and believed that the Conservatives would be better than Labour at defending the country.[22]

1987 general election

In early 1987, Labour lost a by-election in Greenwich to the

Official Opposition.[23]

Labour fought a professional campaign that at one point scared the Conservatives into thinking they might lose, although there was still a Conservative majority of well over 100 seats to overturn. Mandelson and his team had revolutionised Labour's communications – a transformation symbolised by a

Welsh Labour Party conference asking why he was the "first Kinnock in a thousand generations" to go to university
.

On polling day, Labour easily took second place, but with only a 31% share of the vote to the SDP-Liberal Alliance's 22%.[25] Labour was still more than ten percentage points behind the Conservatives, who retained a three-figure majority in the House of Commons. However, the Conservative government's majority had come down from 144 seats in 1983 to 102.[26] Significantly, Labour had gained twenty seats at the election.[27]

Labour won extra seats in Scotland, Wales and Northern England, but lost ground particularly in Southern England and London, where the Conservatives still dominated. The Conservatives also regained the Fulham seat which it had lost to Labour at a by-election just over a year earlier.

Second period (1987–1992)

Kinnock in 1989

A few months after the general election, Kinnock gained brief attention in the

his 1988 presidential campaign in a speech at a Democratic Party debate in Iowa.[28] This led to Biden's withdrawal of his presidential campaign.[29]

The second period of Kinnock's leadership was dominated by his drive to reform the party's policies to gain office. This began with an exercise dubbed the policy review, the most high-profile aspect of which was a series of consultations with the public known as "Labour Listens" in the autumn of 1987.[30]

After Labour Listens, the party went on, in 1988, to produce a new statement of aims and values—meant to supplement and supplant the formulation of

public ownership
. At the same time, the Labour Party's commitment to unilateral nuclear disarmament was dropped, and reforms of Party Conference and the National Executive meant that local parties lost much of their ability to influence policy.

In 1988,

Kinnock was challenged by Tony Benn for the party leadership. Later many identified this as a particularly low period in Kinnock's leadership — as he appeared mired in internal battles after five years of leadership with the Conservatives still dominating the scene, and being ahead in the opinion polls. In the end, though, Kinnock won a decisive victory over Benn and would soon enjoy a substantial rise in support.[31]

The policy review — reporting in 1989 —coincided with Labour's move ahead in the polls as the

1989 European elections
, winning 40% of the vote; the first time Labour had finished in first place at a national election in fifteen years.

In December 1989, he abandoned the Labour policy on

trade unions.[32]

Kinnock was also perceived as scoring in debates over

Commons[citation needed]—previously an area in which he was seen as weak—and finally Michael Heseltine challenged Thatcher's leadership and she resigned on 28 November 1990 to be succeeded by then-Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Major. Kinnock greeted Thatcher's resignation by describing it as "very good news" and demanded an immediate general election.[33]

Public reaction to Major's elevation was highly positive. A new Prime Minister and the fact that Kinnock was now the longest-serving current leader of a major party reduced the impact of calls for "Time for a Change". Neil Kinnock's showing in the opinion polls dipped; before Thatcher's resignation, Labour had been up to 10 points ahead of the Conservatives in the opinion polls (an Ipsos MORI poll in April 1990 had actually shown Labour as being more than 20 points ahead of the Conservatives), but many opinion polls were actually showing the Conservatives with a higher amount of support than Labour, in spite of the deepening recession.[34]

By now Militant had finally been routed in the party, and their two MPs were expelled at the end of 1991, in addition to a number of supporters. The majority in the group were now disenchanted with entryism, and choose to function outside Labour's ranks, forming the Socialist Party.[citation needed]

1992 general election, backbenches and resignation from Parliament

In the three years leading up to the

1992 general election, Labour had consistently topped the opinion polls, with 1991 seeing the Conservatives (rejuvenated by the arrival of a new leader with John Major the previous November) snatch the lead off Labour more than once before Labour regained it. The rise in Conservative support came in spite of the economic recession and sharp rise in unemployment which affected Britain in 1991.[35] Since Major's election as Leader of the Conservative Party (and becoming Prime Minister), Kinnock had spent the end of 1990[36]
and most of 1991 putting pressure on Major to call a general election that year, but Major had held out and by the autumn he had insisted that there would be no general election in 1991.

Labour had gained four seats from the Conservatives in by-elections since the

1987 general election, having initially suffered disappointing results in some by-elections, namely a loss of the Govan constituency in Glasgow to the Scottish National Party in November 1988. However, by the end of 1991, the Conservative majority still stood at 88 seats and Labour needed to win more than ninety new seats to gain an overall majority, although there was still the hope of forming a minority or coalition government
if Labour failed to win a majority.

In the run-up to the election, held on 9 April 1992, most opinion polls had suggested that the election would result in either: a hung parliament or a narrow Labour majority.[37]

At the

1992 general election, Labour made considerable progress – reducing the Conservatives' majority to just 21 seats. It came as a shock to many when the Conservatives won a majority, but the "triumphalism" perceived by some observers of a Labour Party rally in Sheffield (together with Kinnock's performance on the podium) may have helped put floating voters off.[38] Although internal polls[38] suggested no impact, while public polls suggested a decline in support had already occurred,[39] most of those directly involved in the campaign believe that the rally really came to widespread attention only after the electoral defeat itself,[40] with Kinnock himself changing his mind to a rejection of its negative impact over time.[41]

On the day of the general election, The Sun newspaper ran a front page featuring Kinnock with the headline "If Kinnock wins today will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights".[42] Kinnock blamed the newspaper in his resignation speech for Labour losing the election, along with other right-wing media sections who had backed the Conservatives in the run-up to the election.[43] The following day's headline in The Sun was "It's The Sun Wot Won It", which Rupert Murdoch, many years later at his April 2012 appearance before the Leveson Inquiry, stated was both "tasteless and wrong" and led to the editor Kelvin MacKenzie receiving a reprimand.[42]

The Labour-supporting Daily Mirror had backed Kinnock for the 1987 general election[44] and again in 1992.[45] Less expected was the Financial Times backing Kinnock at the 1992 general election.

1992 general election

Kinnock himself later claimed to have half-expected his defeat at the 1992 general election and proceeded to turn himself into a media personality, even hosting a chat show on

BBC Wales and twice appearing on the topical panel show Have I Got News for You
within a year of the defeat. Many years later, he returned to appear as a guest host of the programme.

Kinnock announced his resignation as Labour Party leader on 13 April 1992, ending nearly a decade in the role.

elected on 18 July as his successor.[46]

He remains on the Advisory Council of the Institute for Public Policy Research, which he helped set up in the 1980s.

He was an enthusiastic supporter of

2015.[47]

In 2011, he participated in the family history TV programme

Coming Home where he discovered hitherto unknown information about his family.[48]

European Union Commissioner

See also: Prodi Commission

Kinnock was appointed one of the UK's two members of the European Commission, which he served first as Transport Commissioner under President Jacques Santer, in early 1995; marking the end of his 25 years in the House of Commons.[49] This came less than a year after the death of his successor, John Smith and the election of Tony Blair as the party's new leader.[50]

He was obliged to resign as part of the forced, collective resignation of the Commission in 1999. He was re-appointed to the Commission under new President Romano Prodi. He now became one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Commission, with responsibility for Administrative Reform and the Audit, Linguistics and Logistics Directorates General.[51] His term of office as a Commissioner was due to expire on 30 October 2004, but was delayed owing to the withdrawal of the new Commissioners. During this second term of office on the Commission, he was responsible for introducing new staff regulations for EU officials, a significant feature of which was substantial salary cuts for everyone employed after 1 May 2004, reduced pension prospects for many others, and gradually worsening employment conditions. This made him disliked by many EU staff members, although the pressure on budgets that largely drove these changes had actually been imposed on the Commission from above by the Member States in Council.

In February 2004, it was announced that with effect from 1 November 2004, Kinnock would become head of the

Queen's speech
opening the new parliament. He had dismissed going to the Lords in recent interviews. Kinnock explained his change of attitude, despite the continuing presence of ninety hereditary peers and appointment by patronage, by asserting that the Lords was a good base for campaigning.

Life peerage

He was introduced to the House of Lords on 31 January 2005, after being created, on 28 January, Baron Kinnock, of Bedwellty in the County of Gwent.[52][53][54] On assuming his seat, he stated; "I accepted the kind invitation to enter the House of Lords as a working peer for practical political reasons." When his peerage was first announced, he said, "It will give me the opportunity... to contribute to the national debate on issues like higher education, research, Europe and foreign policy."

His peerage meant that the Labour and Conservative parties were equal in numbers in the upper house of Parliament (subsequently the number of Labour members overtook the number of Conservative members for many years). Kinnock was a long-time critic of the House of Lords, and his acceptance of a peerage led him to be accused of hypocrisy, by Will Self,[55] among others.[56]

Personal life

He is married to Glenys Kinnock, the UK's Minister for Africa and the United Nations from 2009–2010, and a Labour Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1994–2009. When she was made a life peer in 2009, they became one of the few couples both to hold titles in their own right. The pair met in the early-1960s whilst studying at University College, Cardiff, where they were known as "the power and the glory" (Glenys the power), and they married on 25 March 1967.[57] Previously living together in Peterston-super-Ely, a village near the western outskirts of Cardiff, in 2008 they relocated to Tufnell Park, London, to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren.[58]

They have a son, Stephen and a daughter, Rachel.[59] Neil Kinnock, through his son Stephen, is also the father-in-law of Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former Danish Prime Minister.

On 26 April 2006, Kinnock was given a six-month driving ban after being found guilty of two speeding offences along the M4 motorway, west of London.[60]

Neil Kinnock is a Cardiff City F.C. fan and regularly attends matches.[61] Also he is a follower of rugby union and supports London Welsh RFC at club level and regularly attends Wales games. [62]

He was portrayed by both Chris Barrie and Steve Coogan in the satirical TV programme, Spitting Image and by Euan Cuthbertson in the Scottish film In Search of La Che.[63]

Kinnock has been described as an

British Humanist Association.[67]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Britishcouncil.org". Britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
  2. ^ "South East Wales Public Life – Neil Kinnock – Labour politician from Tredegar". BBC. 28 March 1942. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  3. ISBN 978-0-313-28623-0
    . Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  4. ^ Hunter Davis; Frank Herrmann (July 1982). Great Britain. H. Hamilton. p. 173. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  5. ^ "Janus: The Papers of Neil Kinnock".
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7090-5239-5
    . Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  7. ^ Davies, Mark (4 July 2003). "Profile: Neil Kinnock". BBC News.
  8. ^ "Kinnock is Leader at his Rachel's Wedding Party", Sunday Mirror, 22 July 2001.
  9. ISBN 0-86243-515-3
    .
  10. ^ "1983: 'Dream ticket' wins Labour leadership". On This Day. BBC News. 2 October 1983. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  11. ^ General election: "11 June 1987", BBC Politics 97
  12. ^ F.M. Leventhal, ed., Twentieth-century Britain: an encyclopedia (2002) p 424.
  13. ISBN 0-7102-1371-9
    .
  14. ^ "Leader's speech, Bournemouth 1985: Neil Kinnock (Labour)". British Political Speeches. 3 March 1985.
  15. ^ "The Coal War". BBC – Press Office. 27 February 2004.
  16. ^ "1985: Miners call off year-long strike". BBC News. 3 March 1985.
  17. ^ For a history of the Militant tendency in the Labour Party, see Eric Shaw Discipline and Discord in the Labour Party: The Politics of Managerial Control in the Labour Party, 1951–87, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1988, p.218-90 and Michael Crick The March of Militant, London: Faber, 1986
  18. ^ Staff blogger (October 1985). "Neil Kinnock, Militant speech, Labour party conference, October 1985". New Statesman. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  19. ^ James Naughtie "Labour in Bournemouth", The Guardian, 2 October 1985
  20. ^ "1986: Labour expels Militant Hatton", BBC On This Day, 12 June
  21. ^ Lennon, Peter (2 October 1989). "Guarding the good name of the rose". The Guardian. London.
  22. ^ Anthony King (ed.), British Political Opinion, 1937–2000: The Gallup Polls (Politico's, 2001), pp. 105–7.
  23. ^ "The rise and fall of New Labour". BBC News. 3 August 2010.
  24. ^ "UK General Election 1987 Campaign – Kinnock the Movie". YouTube. 11 June 1987. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  25. ^ "Summary results of the 1987 General Election". Election.demon.co.uk. 11 June 1987. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  26. ^ "1987: Thatcher's third victory". BBC News. 5 April 2005.
  27. ^ "VOTE2001 | THE ELECTION BATTLES 1945–1997". BBC News. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  28. ^ Dowd, Maureen (12 September 1987). "Biden's Debate Finale: An Echo From Abroad". The New York Times.
  29. ^ Dionne Jr., E. J. (24 September 1987). "Biden Withdraws Bid for President in Wake of Furor". The New York Times.
  30. ^ Mark Bevir (1 March 2009). "The Remaking of Labour, 1987–1997". Osb.revues.org. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  31. ^ Durkin, Mary; Lester, Paul. "Leadership Elections: Labour Party" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ "1989: Labour's union U-turn". BBC News. 18 December 1989.
  33. ^ "Mrs Thatcher Resigns – BBC 1 O'Clock News". YouTube. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  34. ^ "Poll tracker: Interactive guide to the opinion polls". BBC News. 29 September 2009.
  35. ^ "UK Polling Report". UK Polling Report. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  36. ^ http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/kinnock-challenges-tories-to-call-election-1.548889. Retrieved 23 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link]
  37. ^ "1992: Tories win again against odds". BBC News. 5 April 2005.
  38. ^ a b "Key Issues in the 1992 Campaign", BBC News, Politics '97
  39. ^ Jim Parish "It was tax what lost it for Labour", New Statesman, 1 January 1999
  40. ^ Barnard, Stephanie (27 July 2009). "Kinnock came and didn't conquer". BBC News.
  41. ^ Compare Michael Leapman "'Rush of blood' was Kinnock's downfall", The Independent, 26 November 1995 with Alyssa McDonald "The NS Interview: Neil Kinnock", New Statesman, 29 April 2010
  42. ^ a b Ben Dowell (25 April 2012). "Rupert Murdoch: 'Sun wot won it' headline was tasteless and wrong". Guardian Newspapers. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  43. ^ "1992: Labour's Neil Kinnock resigns". On This Day. BBC News. 13 April 1992. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  44. ^ "Mirror Style Guide: Front page headline of the Mirror, 1987". @TheMirrorStyle on Twitter, via Snoopnest. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  45. ^ "General Election 2010 – A century of Daily Mirror front pages – Mirror Online". Mirror.co.uk. 20 April 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  46. ^ "1992: Labour's Neil Kinnock resigns". BBC News. 13 April 1992.
  47. ^ Wheeler, Brian (29 September 2010). ""We've got our party back," says Lord Kinnock". BBC News. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  48. ^ "BBC One – Coming Home, Series 6, Neil Kinnock". Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  49. ^ "Conservatives trounced in poll". The Independent. London. 17 February 1995.
  50. ^ "1994: Labour chooses Blair". BBC News. 21 July 1994.
  51. ^ "Neil Kinnock > Policy Advisory Council". IPPR. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  52. ^ "No. 57549". The London Gazette. 2 February 2005. p. 1249.
  53. ^ Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock, thePeerage.com
  54. ^ House of Lords Journal 238 (Session 2004–05), Monday, 31 January 2005; p. 142
  55. 3 December 2004
  56. ^ "Baron Kinnock makes Lords debut". BBC News. 31 January 2005. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  57. ^ Julia Finch, Michael White (5 June 2009). "New faces: Alan Sugar and Glenys Kinnock". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  58. ^ Camden New Journal, 10 January 2008, p.10.
  59. ^ Harper, James (21 July 2002). "Kinnock gives his girl away". Sunday Mirror. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  60. ^ "Neil Kinnock banned from driving". BBC News. 26 April 2006. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  61. ^ "Cardiff's Sunday quest". BBC News. 23 April 2002. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  62. ^ http://www.london-welsh.co.uk/index.php?mod=news_view&id=1734
  63. ^ "Neil Kinnock (Character)".
  64. ^ "Free thought of the Day". 28 March 2009. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  65. ^ Crawley, William (1 October 2010). "Should we keep God out of politics?". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 March 2015. The Labour Party has been led by three self-avowed "public" atheists: Michael Foot, Neil Kinnock, and now Ed Miliband.
  66. ^ "Ed Miliband: he may be an atheist, but is he a secularist?". National Secular Society. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2015. Almost at once, the God-squad went into action. The Christian Institute's hysteria index rose to bursting point and the Daily Mail reminded Mr Miliband that other leaders of the Labour Party who professed atheism (Neil Kinnock and Michael Foot) never got to Number 10.
  67. ^ "The Rt. Hon. The Lord Kinnock PC". British Humanist Association. Retrieved 7 September 2015.

Further reading

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Neil Kinnock.

Media related to Neil Kinnock at Wikimedia Commons

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
1983
 Constituency abolished
New constituency
1995
 Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Science
1979–1983 		Succeeded by
Giles Radice
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition
1983–1992 		Succeeded by
Preceded by British European Commissioner
1995–2004
Served alongside: Chris Patten 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Consumer Protection
 European Commissioner for Transport
1995–1999 		Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Parliamentary Relations, Transport and Energy
Preceded by
Budget
, Personnel and Administration
European Commissioner for Administrative Reform
1999–2004 		Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Administrative Affairs, Audit and Anti-Fraud
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Labour Party
1983–1992 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Chair of the Labour Party

1987–1988 		Succeeded by

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neil_Kinnock&oldid=825809198"