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The Rt Hon. Ruth Kelly
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
In office May 5 2006 – present
Preceded by	John Prescott (part of Office of Deputy Prime Minister)
Constituency	Bolton West
Majority	2,064 (5.1%)
Personal details
Born	9 May, 1968 Limavady, Northern Ireland
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Derek Gadd

Ruth Maria Kelly (born 9 May 1968) is a British politician. She is the Member of Parliament for the Greater Manchester constituency of Bolton West representing the Labour Party. She was Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2004-2006, and in the May 2006 reshuffle was made Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Minister for Women and Equality.

Background

Kelly was born in Limavady, Northern Ireland. She also lived briefly in the Republic of Ireland before moving to England where she attended Edgarley Hall - the prep school for Millfield School. She then went to Sutton High School. After jumping up a year and sitting O-levels at Sutton High School at the age of 15 she decided to move back to Ireland to look after her ill grandmother. Her grandmother died after six weeks, but Kelly stayed for a year anyway, living with her aunt and taking A-level French. She returned to England where she won a scholarship to the sixth-form of Westminster School to undertake her A-levels. She went on to The Queen's College, University of Oxford (where she read Philosophy, Politics and Economics) and then the London School of Economics. She was an economics writer for The Guardian from 1990, before becoming deputy head of the Inflation Report Division of the Bank of England in 1994. She is married to Derek Gadd, and they have four children, Eamonn, Sinead, Roisin and Niamh.

Family history

Kelly's grandfather Philip Murphy was an IRA officer interned in 1922 by the Government of Northern Ireland. Murphy's detention file refers to him as 'quartermaster of the West Fermanagh IRA Battalion'. He went on hunger strike to protest at his detention. He was released unconditionally in June 1924 when internment ended.

Religion

Kelly is a practising Roman Catholic. Her brother, Ronan Kelly, is a supernumerary in Opus Dei, but she refuses to say whether or not she is a member, arguing that this is a private matter. The effect of her religious viewpoint on her ability to objectively address controversial questions has been of especial concern to scientists, many of whom have alleged that her religious views could be the cause of conflict over government policy issues such as embryonic stem cell research, abortion, and religion in schools. It is also suggested by Opposition groups that her Opus Dei credentials are incompatible with her equality brief as they make her unable to fully support gay rights.

Career as an MP

In the 1997 general election, Kelly gained the seat of Bolton West from the Conservatives while heavily pregnant, and gave birth to her first son eleven days later. She served on the Treasury Select Committee; she was also appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Agriculture Minister, Nick Brown from 1998. Kelly was a member of a commission set up by the Institute for Public Policy Research into the Private Finance Initiative, which expressed some scepticism about the operation of the policy.

After the 2001 general election Kelly was appointed as Economic Secretary to the Treasury. She had responsibility for competition policy and small businesses. After a year she was promoted to be Financial Secretary to the Treasury where she had responsibility for regulation of the financial services industry. In both roles her principal role was in the thorough revision of the Financial Services regulation system which was introduced by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Kelly brought in new regulations to tackle the funding of terrorism after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Kelly had primary responsibility for dealing with Equitable Life after the Penrose Report into the life insurance company was published. She rejected calls for government compensation to Equitable policyholders, on the grounds that the losses arose from actions of the company rather than from any defect of regulation, and that it was still trading. Equitable policyholders continued to demand redress.

In a minor reshuffle, she was promoted to be Minister for the Cabinet Office on 9 September 2004, replacing Douglas Alexander. Kelly guided the Civil Contingencies Bill through its final stages in Parliament, which faced serious objections from some civil liberties campaigns.

Secretary of State for Education and Skills

In the reshuffle following the resignation of David Blunkett on 15 December 2004, Kelly entered the Cabinet (also becoming a member of the Privy Council) with the position of Secretary of State for Education and Skills. She became the youngest woman ever to sit in the Cabinet.

The Government's Extended Schools policy, which plans to open some schools from 8am to 6pm and provide child-care services for working parents, has been dubbed by some as "Kelly hours" after Kelly. It has also been suggested that Kelly has, since taking up the position of Secretary of State, championed the role of parents in the education system, engendering mixed feeling within the sector as to whether this is a helpful stance. But her proposals in the 2005 white paper to reduce the number and influence of parent governors in Trust Schools have hurt this reputation, with many considering that she is solely interested in the problems and issues of working parents.

As a mother of four she has refused to work the long hours normally associated with her position or take a red box in the evening, which consequently has caused problems with the speed at which she has made decisions or engaged with issues within her own Department.

Kelly's time as Secretary of State has not been easy. She controversially rejected the proposals of the Tomlinson report on education reform for the 14–19 age group . After the 2005 election she was offered a change of job by the Prime Minister back into her old post at the Treasury, a move she declined as it would have been a demotion. She did so only after accepting the appointment of Tony Blair's adviser Andrew Adonis as a Minister within her Department, an appointment she did not welcome.

Sex offenders in schools controversy

On 9 January 2006, it came to light that Kelly’s department had granted permission for a man, Paul Reeve, who had been cautioned by police for viewing child pornography images, and who was on a sex offenders register, to be employed at a school in Norwich on the basis that he had not been convicted of an offence. He, and an unknown number of others on the sex offenders register, were not on the DfES prohibited list, "List 99".

This caused uproar in the media, and Downing Street were forced to deny that she was about to lose her job. On 13 January, Kim Howells admitted that he had actually made the decision, in accordance with advice given to him by civil servants that the "person did not represent an ongoing threat to children but that he should be given a grave warning". There was further outrage as it transpired that a teacher, William Gibson, 59, who had been convicted in 1980 for indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl, and who had been removed from three schools, had been cleared to work at Portchester School in Bournemouth, on the basis of a letter from the Department for Education implicating the Secretary of State.

Trust schools

One of Ruth Kelly's most controversial policies was the proposed introduction of Trust schools. The Trusts were intended to be non-profit making and to have charitable status, although they could be formed by commercial enterprises. In fact one of the early DfES-hosted seminars on the establishment of Trusts included representatives from Microsoft and KPMG. But it is their ability to set their own admission arrangements that generated the most criticism.

A large number of Labour backbenchers, as well as numerous Labour luminaries like Neil Kinnock and former Education Secretary Estelle Morris, made known their opposition to the proposals and published an alternative white paper. Faced with such a rebellion, the government initially stressed that it would press on with the reforms. However new Tory leader David Cameron unexpectedly announced that these reforms were in line with Tory policies and that he would support the bill if presented in the proposed form. The government were faced with the prospect of pushing through their reforms only with opposition support and in the face of increased resistance from its own supporters.

When the Education and Inspections bill 2006 was finally published on 28 February 2006, it contained much of what had been trailed, although most notable by its absence was any mention of "trust school". Foundation and Voluntary Aided schools were left to pick up the mantle of trust schools.

Fathers for Justice attacks

On two occasions Kelly has been targeted by members of Fathers 4 Justice in egg-throwing incidents. In February 2006 she was to give evidence in the case of Father 4 Justice protester Simon Wilmot-Coverdale in connection with an incident in April 2005 when an egg was thrown at her. She was not required to do so as at the hearing he changed his plea to using threatening words or behaviour but, as she left the court, she was again attacked; the egg smashing on the back of her head. The thrower stated he was from Fathers for Justice, not Fathers 4 Justice.

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

After the English local elections in May 2006, Ruth Kelly was appointed Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, a position created when these functions were split off from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The Department also took over the Home Office's responsibilities for active communities and civic renewal. She was also given the post of Minister for Women and Equality. Ruth Kelly's successor at the Department for Education and Skills is Alan Johnson.

On 16th October 2006, she announced that her new role would involve cutting down on extremists within communites.

Gay equality issues

When she became Minister for Women and Equality, she was criticised on both BBC Radio 5 Live, and on the front page of The Independent of 10 May 2006, for having failed to support a single measure in favour of homosexual rights since 1997 when the Labour government came to power. It was pointed out that she had absented herself from votes on such issues as equalisation of the age of consent, and gay adoption, and had voted for a motion that would prevent same-sex couples from adoption. She was also criticised for refusing to comment on whether she considered that homosexuality is a sin. Gay-rights activist Peter Tatchell commented: "Tony Blair would never appoint someone to a race equality post who had a lukewarm record of opposing racism".

In a letter published in The Times on May 11th, 2006, the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic diocese of Westminster, UK, voiced criticism to allegations that Ruth Kelly’s Catholicism might be considered incompatible with her role as Equality Minister. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor wrote "Ms Kelly may well be scrutinised for her fitness in office. That is a political judgement. But her Catholicism should not be a criterion in forming that judgement." However, the criticism to which this responded was not that she was a Catholic, but that she allegedly holds views about homosexuality (and other issues) which some hold as contrary to the equality agenda which it is her ministerial duty to promote. Many practising, but dissenting Catholics (including, for example, the wife of the Prime Minister Cherie Booth QC) do not hold these views.

The Observer newspaper reported on 15 October 2006 that Kelly had joined the Prime Minister in seeking to exempt churches from new laws prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals in the provisions of goods and services, and in employment. In the light of these reports, the Liberal Democrat Equalities spokesperson, Lorely Burt, called for Kelly to give up her responsibility for equalities, claiming Kelly's personal beliefs were incompatible with defending gay rights.

Political prospects

Ruth Kelly's numerous promotions over a relatively short space of time have led to some suggesting she might be a future candidate for the office of Prime Minister. Support for this has been found in the fact that her voice, which is particularly deep for a woman, may give her an oratorical advantage over her female colleagues.

However, her seat of Bolton West is considered fairly marginal with the Conservative candidate at the 2005 general election having received just 2,064 votes fewer than Kelly. As such, she has the smallest majority of any in the current cabinet and may lose her seat at the next general election.

References

1. "Interview with, and bioprofile of, Ruth Kelly" (HTML). The Guardian. 2005-09-24. Retrieved 2006-06-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. "Ruth Kelly - a private woman who puts faith into her work" (HTML). The Times. 2004-12-17. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. "Ruth Kelly's grandfather was interned IRA quartermaster" (HTML). The Times. 2006-01-23. Retrieved 2006-11-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. "Kelly on her links with secretive society" (HTML). The Daily Mirror. 2005-01-20. Retrieved 2006-11-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. "Scientists are alarmed by Ruth Kelly's strict beliefs" (HTML). The Times. 2004-12-22. Retrieved 2006-11-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. "Lib Dems urge Kelly to drop equalities brief" (HTML). The Guardian. 2006-10-16. Retrieved 2006-11-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. "Emergency powers plan published" (HTML). BBC News Online. 2004-01-07. Retrieved 2006-11-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. "Trust Schools" (HTML). The Guardian. 2005-01-05. Retrieved 2006-06-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. "Review of sex offenders in school" (HTML). BBC News. 2006-01-11. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "Sex case minister will keep job" (HTML). BBC News. 2006-01-13. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. "Letter reveals Kelly's approval" (HTML). BBC News. 2006-01-15. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. "PM talks of school reforms 'hell'" (HTML). BBC News. 2006-02-09. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. "Shaping the Education Bill - reaching for consensus" (HTML). Compass. Retrieved 2006-06-03.
14. "Egg thrown at Kelly outside court" (HTML). BBC News. 2006-02-06. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. "Kelly denies Muslims 'demonised'" (HTML). BBC News. 2006-10-16. Retrieved 2006-11-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. "Kelly's views on gays questioned" (HTML). BBC News. 2006-05-09. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. "Reshuffle error? Can Ruth Kelly really represent the gay community?" (HTML). pinknews.co.uk. 2006-05-06. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
18. Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor (May 11, 2006). "Letters to the Editor". The Times. Retrieved 2006-06-03.
19. "Cabinet split over new rights for gays" (HTML). The Observer. 2006-10-15. Retrieved 2006-11-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
20. "Lib Dems urge Kelly to drop equalities brief" (HTML). The Guardian. 2006-10-16. Retrieved 2006-11-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. "'Economics genius' gets education brief" (HTML). Telegraph.co.uk. 2004-12-16. Retrieved 2006-07-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
22. "Recorded delivery" (HTML). The Guardian. 2005-01-05. Retrieved 2006-06-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
23. "Why women who want to get ahead get a husky voice" (HTML). Daily Mail. 2006-06-05. Retrieved 2006-07-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

See also

• Cabinet of the United Kingdom
• Teachings of Opus Dei
• Opus Dei and politics

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics — Ask Aristotle: Ruth Kelly MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com — Ruth Kelly MP
• BBC interview 23 January 2005
• Kelly worst education secretary under Labour — March 26, 2005 Opinion article from the Independent on Kelly's relations with the NUT

• 1968 births
• Alumni of the London School of Economics
• British female MPs
• Current British MPs
• British Secretaries of State
• Former students of Queen's College, Oxford
• Living people
• Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
• Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies
• Female members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies
• Natives of County Londonderry
• Northern Irish Roman Catholics
• Old Westminsters
• People of Irish descent in Great Britain
• Roman Catholic politicians
• Labour MPs (UK)
• UK MPs 1997-2001
• UK MPs 2001-2005
• UK MPs 2005-