Stephen Kinnock was first elected as the Labour MP for Aberavon in 2015, having been reelected in 2019 with a majority of 10,490.
The constituency of Aberavon is a relatively small seat in terms of its electoral size, focussed on the towns of Aberavon and Port Talbot. It spreads inland from the massive Tata steel works at Port Talbot on the coast into the south Wales valleys. This remains one of Labour’s safest seats in the country where the actual Labour majority is often as high as 50% of the vote. It was once represented in Parliament by the first ever Labour Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald. Three fifths of the electorate backed Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.
In 2021 Kinnock was appointed as a Shadow Defence Spokesperson. He was previously the Shadow Minister for Asia and the Pacific between 2020 and 2021.
Born in 1970, Stephen Kinnock is the son of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and his wife Glenys. He joined the Labour Party when his father was leader, at the age of 15.
Expanding his political family, Kinnock is married to Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who was formerly the Leader of the Danish Social Democrats, and who served as Prime Minister of Denmark between 2011 and 2015. The couple have two daughters.
Kinnock studied modern languages at Cambridge University and also attended the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. It was here that he met his wife. He then worked for the British Council and the World Economic Forum before being elected to Parliament.
Kinnock backed Lisa Nandy in the 2020 Labour leadership election. He supported Owen Smith in his 2016 challenge against Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. In the 2015 contest, he backed Yvette Cooper.
Stephen Kinnock plays in the Parliamentary football team and enjoys running. He is fluent in five European languages.
Stephen Kinnock is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Electoral Campaigning Transparency; Reuniting Britain post Brexit; Steel and Metal Related Industries; the UK Shared Prosperity Fund; and Denmark. He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Compassionate Politics; the Union; and Russia.
Email: stephen.kinnock.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.stephenkinnock.co.uk/
Twitter: @SKinnock
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/stephenkinncock
