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Liz Kendall

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For other people named Elizabeth Kendall, see Elizabeth Kendall (disambiguation).

The Right Honourable
Liz Kendall
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 July 2024
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byMel Stride
Member of Parliament
for Leicester West
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byPatricia Hewitt
Majority8,777 (24.8%)
Shadow portfolios 2011‍–‍2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office
4 September 2023 – 5 July 2024
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byJonathan Ashworth
Succeeded byMel Stride
Shadow Minister for Social Care[a]
In office
9 April 2020 – 4 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byPaula Sherriff
Succeeded byAndrew Gwynne
In office
7 October 2011 – 12 September 2015
Leader
Preceded byEmily Thornberry
Succeeded byBarbara Keeley
Personal details
Born
Elizabeth Louise Kendall

(1971-06-11) 11 June 1971 (age 53)
Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England
Political partyLabour
Children1
Alma materQueens' College, Cambridge
WebsiteOfficial website

Elizabeth Louise Kendall (born 11 June 1971)[1] is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since July 2024.[2] A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester West since 2010.

Kendall was born in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, and studied at the University of Cambridge.[3] From 2011 to 2015, she served as Shadow Minister for Care and Older People on the Official Opposition frontbench of Ed Miliband, who invited her to attend meetings of his Shadow Cabinet, although she was not technically a Shadow Cabinet member in this position. Kendall stood in the Labour Party leadership election in September 2015 following the resignation of Ed Miliband, finishing in last place.[4][5] In April 2020, Keir Starmer appointed Kendall Shadow Minister for Social Care on the Official Opposition frontbench.

Early life and career

[edit]

Elizabeth Kendall was born on 11 June 1971 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. She attended Watford Grammar School for Girls, alongside Geri Halliwell. Her father, Richard, left school at 16 and studied finance before going on to be a senior official at the Bank of England. Her mother was a primary school teacher. As children, Kendall and her brother were encouraged to talk about politics and to get involved in community activism. Having originally been a Labour voter, her father became a Liberal councillor in 1979. Her mother was a school governor and Kendall's first political campaign was for a local zebra crossing. After leaving school, she attended Queens' College, Cambridge, graduating with first class honours in history in 1993.[6][7]

Kendall joined the Labour Party in 1992 and, after graduating from Cambridge, worked at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)[6] in the area of child development and early years learning. In 1996, she became a political adviser to Harriet Harman, and then became Harman's government special adviser in the Department for Social Security after Labour won the 1997 general election and Harman became a government minister.[6]

In 1998, when Harman was sacked from the government, Kendall resigned and was awarded a fellowship by the King's Fund, a health charity. She also wrote a series of research papers for the IPPR and was appointed as the Director of the Maternity Alliance, a charity for pregnant women.[6] She was unsuccessful in an attempt to be selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Chesterfield at the 2001 general election, following the retirement of Tony Benn.[8]

In 2001, she returned to government to work for Patricia Hewitt, at the Department for Trade and Industry, and then followed her to the Department for Health, where she was involved in bringing in the smoking ban in 2006.[6] After Hewitt left government, Kendall became the Director of the Ambulance Services Network, where she remained until 2010.[9][10]

Parliamentary career

[edit]

At the 2010 general election, Kendall was elected to Parliament as MP for Leicester West with 38.4% of the vote and a majority of 4,017.[11][12] She made her maiden speech in a debate on tackling poverty in the UK on 10 June 2010.[13]

She was briefly a member of the Education Select Committee between July 2010 and October 2010. She supported David Miliband for the leadership of the Labour Party in 2010.

In Ed Miliband's first reshuffle in October 2010, she joined the Opposition frontbench as Shadow Junior Health Minister where she served under John Healey. In 2011, she contributed along with other Labour MPs and former Labour ministers to The Purple Book, in which she wrote a chapter on the early years and health and social care where she proposed a "Teach Early Years First" scheme. Later that year, she was appointed to the new role of Shadow Minister for Care and Older People and became an attending member of the shadow cabinet.[3][14]

Kendall was re-elected as MP for Leicester West at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 46.5% and an increased majority of 7,203.[15]

Labour Party leadership candidature

[edit]
Kendall before a 2015 Labour Party leadership election meeting in Bristol

On 10 May 2015, Kendall announced that she was standing as a successor to Ed Miliband for the Labour Party leadership following their defeat in the 2015 general election.[16][17] Kendall was regarded by many in the media as the Blairite candidate,[16][17][18] though Kendall stated she would like to be known as the "modernising candidate".[19] Her leadership bid was supported by Shadow Cabinet colleagues Ivan Lewis,[20] Chuka Umunna,[21] Tristram Hunt,[22] Emma Reynolds and Gloria De Piero.[23] Senior Labour politicians supporting her included Alan Milburn,[24] Alistair Darling,[25] John Hutton[26] and John Reid.[27] She also had the support of the Blue Labour Group within the Labour Party including figures such as Maurice Glasman and Rowenna Davis.

In June 2015, Kendall's leadership bid received praise from The Sun, who said that she is the "only prayer they [the Labour Party] have". The Sun also praised her for saying "the country comes first" in response to Andy Burnham who said "the Labour Party always comes first" in the Newsnight Labour leadership hustings.[28] Commentators from across the political spectrum said that Kendall was the leadership candidate the Conservatives would "fear the most".[29][30][31] This claim was even re-stated by some Conservative politicians including George Osborne, Boris Johnson, Ruth Davidson, Anna Soubry and Philip Davies.[32][33][34][35]

Ultimately, Kendall finished 4th in the election, obtaining 4.5% (18,857) of the vote.[36]

Resignation from the Shadow Cabinet

[edit]

Kendall resigned from the Shadow Cabinet following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in September 2015.[37] She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.[38]

At the snap 2017 general election, Kendall was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 60.8% and an increased majority of 11,060.[39]

In August 2017, James Chapman, former Director of Communications at HM Treasury under George Osborne, said, "We really need Liz Kendall to be the leader of [a] new centre party".[40] Chapman had already tweeted his proposals for a new centrist political party opposed to Brexit, 'The Democrats'.[41] After stepping down from frontline politics, Kendall was a regular guest on BBC current affairs programme This Week until its cancellation in July 2019.

Kendall was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 49.7% and a decreased majority of 4,212.[42]

Return to frontbench

[edit]

Keir Starmer reappointed Kendall to the frontbench after winning the 2020 Labour leadership election. Following the November 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle, it was announced that Karin Smyth would cover her duties while Kendall was on maternity leave.[43]

On 4 September 2023 she was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by Starmer as part of the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle.[44]

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2024-present)

[edit]

At the 2024 general election, Kendall was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 44.6% and an increased majority of 8,777.[45] In the aftermath of the election, Kendall was appointed as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.[46] She was appointed to the Privy Council and sworn into ministerial office on 6 July.[47]

Political views

[edit]

Economic and fiscal policy

[edit]

During her leadership campaign in 2015, Kendall committed herself to the living wage and said the Low Pay Commission's remit should be extended to encourage more firms to pay it.[48] She also said she would end the exploitation of care workers by preventing firms from docking the cost of uniform and travel time from their wages. She has also come out in support of worker representation on company boards as part of her plans for economic reform. After the Budget, Kendall commissioned the former minister Margaret Hodge, to undertake a review into the £100bn tax reliefs that firms are entitled to.[48]

Defence and foreign policy

[edit]

Kendall is a pro-European and has spoken in favour of reforming the European Union. She supported an in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU,[19] and wanted the Labour Party to play a leading role in a cross-party Yes to Europe campaign. Kendall also backed the NATO target to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence.[19] She is in favour of renewing Britain's Trident nuclear submarines.[49]

Kendall supports a two-state solution, but in 2015 she abstained on a motion recognising the State of Palestine, instead favouring the continuation of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.[50] She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[citation needed]

Education

[edit]

Kendall has spoken about education as a way of tackling inequality. She has spoken in support of expanding the academies programme and keeping the free schools initiative saying that focus should be on the quality of education rather than structures and that investment in the early years should be a priority over cutting university tuition fees.[48][51] Kendall also said that more effort was needed in the education system to raise aspiration for the 'white working class young'.[52] Kendall has also said that as Prime Minister, she would order a review of National Lottery Funding to free up funds for early years services.[53]

Health and welfare

[edit]
Kendall on a People's march for the NHS in 2014

Kendall has advocated increased patient choice in the NHS,[54] arguing "there will remain a role for the private and voluntary sectors where they can add extra capacity to the NHS or challenges to the system" and with healthcare providers "what matters is what works".[16][17] In 2015, Kendall supported the £23,000 benefit cap.[55] In 2024 as Work and Pensions Secretary, Kendall suggested that job coaches could visit inpatients on mental health wards.[56]

Immigration

[edit]

Kendall gave some support to David Cameron's proposal that the right of EU migrants to claim tax credits and benefits should be withdrawn, or delayed for a number of years.[57] She supports the current points-based immigration system and backed tough rules on abuse of the immigration system but has pledged not to try and "out-UKIP UKIP" and spoke of the benefits of immigration in her own constituency.[58]

Devolution

[edit]

Kendall has supported "radical devolution" to England to deal with the West Lothian Question and appointed Tristram Hunt to look at what powers ought to be devolved to England. In July 2015, Kendall came out in favour of English Votes for English Laws. Her leadership rivals favoured the formation of a constitutional convention to consider the issue.[59][60] Kendall has also said that Labour must oppose the 'tyranny of the bureaucratic state' but must also share power at every level so that powers are devolved to communities and individuals too.[61]

Trade unions

[edit]

Kendall has supported Labour's links with the trade union movement but has said that both the trade unions and the Labour Party have to change. Kendall said that if she became Prime Minister, she would reverse any changes to trade union and employment rights made by the previous Conservative government.[62] Kendall also criticised Len McCluskey for threatening to withdraw funding from the Labour Party were his choice of candidate not to be elected.[62]

Social issues

[edit]

Kendall is a supporter of LGBT rights and voted for same sex marriage in 2013. Kendall said under her leadership the Labour Party would have worked with other centre-left parties to end the criminalisation of homosexuality across the world and spoke in favour of Michael Cashman becoming the UK's special envoy on LGBTI issues.[63]

Personal life

[edit]

Kendall was previously in a relationship with the actor and comedian Greg Davies. They ended their relationship a few months before the 2015 general election.[64][65] In November 2021 Kendall announced she would take maternity leave in 2022 as she would be having a baby through surrogacy.[66] Her son Henry was born in January 2022.[67]

Kendall was sworn of the Privy Council on 6 July 2024, entitling her to be styled "The Right Honourable".[68]

Kendall runs five mornings a week.[69]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Care and Older People (2011–15)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The NHS Confederation Group Company Limited". Dellam Corporate Information. 15 March 2010. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: July 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b Staff writer. "Ed Miliband promotes fresh faces to Labour top team". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  4. ^ Staff writer (10 May 2015). "Liz Kendall confirms Labour leadership bid". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 June 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  5. ^ Wintour, Patrick; Mason, Rowena (10 September 2015). "Voting closes in Labour leadership election". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e Prince, Rosa (27 May 2015). "Liz Kendall: full story of the outsider who became the Labour leadership candidate with the 'mo'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Who is Liz Kendall? Labour leadership contender guide". BBC News. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  8. ^ Pollard, Stephen (16 April 2001). "Hating Tony Blair: with a general election imminent, publishers are eagerly issuing condemnations of new Labour..." New Statesman. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  9. ^ "Biography page". lizkendall.org. Liz Kendall. Archived from the original on 11 May 2010. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  10. ^ "Liz Kendall profile". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  11. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  12. ^ "Election 2010 – Constituency – Leicester West". BBC. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  13. ^ "Tackling Poverty in the UK". TheyWorkForYou. 10 June 2010. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  14. ^ "Liz Kendall". Parliament UK. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  15. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. ^ a b c Merrick, Jane (25 January 2015). "Labour party leadership: Blairite Liz Kendall emerges as a fresh rival to Ed Miliband". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  17. ^ a b c Watt, Holly (1 February 2015). "Blairite MP Liz Kendall emerges as favourite in Labour leadership stakes". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  18. ^ Shipman, Tim (10 May 2015). "Blairite Liz in race to be Labour leader". Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  19. ^ a b c Mason, Rowena (21 May 2015). "Liz Kendall: Labour must ditch 'fantasy' that Britain has moved to the left". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  20. ^ Lewis, Ivan (25 May 2015). "Why I'm backing Liz Kendall for Labour leader". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  21. ^ Umunna, Chuka (26 May 2015). "Why we are endorsing Liz Kendall for the Labour leadership". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  22. ^ Hope, Christopher (20 May 2015). "Tristram Hunt endorses Liz Kendall for Labour leader". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  23. ^ Jones, Callum (21 July 2015). "Liz Kendall turns photographer . . . and focuses on red tape". The Times. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  24. ^ Staff writer (24 June 2015). "Milburn backs Kendall for Labour leadership". Sky News. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  25. ^ Darling, Alastair (19 July 2015). "Why I'm backing Liz Kendall for Labour leader". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  26. ^ Blanchard, Jack (8 June 2015). "Labour leader hopeful Liz Kendall gets tough on stripping EU migrants of tax credits". The Mirror. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  27. ^ Reid, John (5 July 2015). "If Labour wants to win in 2020, it must choose Liz Kendall as leader". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 August 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  28. ^ Allegretti, Aubrey (17 June 2015). "The Sun backs Liz Kendall for Labour leadership after Nuneaton hustings... sort of". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  29. ^ Liddle, Rod (16 June 2015). "Forget Jeremy Corbyn, I'm backing Liz Kendall for Labour leader (blog)". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  30. ^ "Liz Kendall claims she will be the Labour leader the Tories fear". The News Hub. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  31. ^ Nelson, Fraser (21 June 2015). "Diane Abbott's car-crash Sunday Politics interview shows the depth of Labour's denial (blog)". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  32. ^ Bloom, Dan (9 September 2015). "George Osborne claims Labour leadership race has ruined 'a generation's work'". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  33. ^ Cowley, Jason (September 2015). "George Osborne: read the full Q&A". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 13 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  34. ^ Settle, Michael. "Davidson: Corbyn is neo-Marxist in Breton cap talking 1970s politics". The Herald (Glasgow). Archived from the original on 27 November 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  35. ^ Singleton, David (24 June 2015). "Philip Davies: 'One thing David and I agree on is that I should not be promoted'". Total Politics. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  36. ^ Stone, Jon (26 January 2016). "Liz Kendall says she lost the Labour leadership election because she was the 'eat your greens' candidate". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  37. ^ Larner, Tony (13 September 2015). "Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood resigns Shadow Cabinet after election of Jeremy Corbyn". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  38. ^ Pope, Conor (21 July 2016). "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  39. ^ "Leicester West parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  40. ^ Myers, Rupert (16 August 2017). "James Chapman is the Rogue One of remainers". GQ. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  41. ^ Gilchrist, Karen (14 August 2017). "'Democrat' party may be launched in the UK to fight Brexit". CNBC. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  42. ^ "Leicester West Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  43. ^ "Tweet from Wes Streeting, announcing the new Shadow H&SC team". Twitter. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  44. ^ "Angela Rayner handed new role as Keir Starmer reshuffles top team". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  45. ^ Leicester West
  46. ^ "Liz Kendall appointed secretary of state for work and pensions". www.professionalpensions.com. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  47. ^ "Court Circular: July 6 and 7, 2024". The Times. 7 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  48. ^ a b c Staff writer (12 August 2015). "What is Liz Kendall's programme for government?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  49. ^ Riley-Smith, Ben (5 June 2015). "Every major Labour leadership candidate backs Trident renewal". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  50. ^ Stone, Jon (21 July 2015). "Labour should not have voted to recognise Palestine, says leadership candidate Liz Kendall". The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 December 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  51. ^ Sparrow, Andrew (21 May 2015). "Liz Kendall says Labour should champion wealth creation". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  52. ^ Mason, Rowena. "Liz Kendall 'will back white working-class young'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  53. ^ Merrick, Jane (4 July 2015). "Liz Kendall to order National Lottery funding review if she becomes new Labour leader". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  54. ^ Rentoul, John (13 February 2013). "Labour finds its voice on NHS reform". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 June 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  55. ^ Demianyk, Graeme (2 July 2015). "Labour leadership candidate Liz Kendall says back benefits reform or face 'decades' out of power". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 13 December 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  56. ^ "Mental health patients could get job coach visits". BBC News.
  57. ^ Hope, Christopher (7 June 2015). "Blairite Labour leadership contender Liz Kendall backs taking benefits away from EU migrants". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  58. ^ Stone, Jon (18 June 2015). "Liz Kendall says she wants an Australian-style points-based immigration system". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  59. ^ Grice, Andrew (3 July 2015). "Liz Kendall urges Labour to embrace 'English votes for English laws'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 April 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
  60. ^ Gage, Christopher (24 May 2015). "Liz Kendall: England needs radical devolution". politicshome.com. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  61. ^ Kendall, Liz; Nandy, Lisa (26 March 2015). "People power should be front and centre in Labour's new political vision". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  62. ^ a b Kendall, Liz (19 May 2015). "A letter from a trade unionist to Britain's trade unionists". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  63. ^ Staff writer (24 May 2015). "Liz Kendall: We have a duty to push LGBTI equality worldwide". Gay Star News. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  64. ^ Saner, Emine (20 May 2015). "Greg Davies Interview". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  65. ^ Macintyre, Donald (22 May 2015). "Liz Kendall: Is Labour's smart, articulate rising star the heir to Tony Blair?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  66. ^ Richardson, Hannah (24 November 2021). "Leicester MP Liz Kendall to take leave as she embarks on exciting new role - motherhood". Leicester Live. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  67. ^ Jackson, Siba (22 January 2022). "Labour MP Liz Kendall 'bursting with love and happiness' after welcoming son Henry via surrogate". Sky News. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  68. ^ "List of Business – 6 July 2024" (PDF). Privy Council Office. 6 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  69. ^ "Who is Liz Kendall? Labour leadership contender guide". BBC News. 30 July 2015.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liz Kendall.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Leicester West
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Minister for Care and Older People
2011–2015 		Succeeded byas Shadow Minister for Older People, Social Care and Carers
Preceded by Shadow Minister for Social Care
2020–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
2023–2024 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
2024–present 		Incumbent
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