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The Right HonourableThe Baroness Kinnock of HolyheadFRSA
Official portrait, 2009
Minister of State for Africa and the United Nations
In office 13 October 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	The Lord Malloch-Brown
Succeeded by	Henry Bellingham
Minister of State for Europe
In office 5 June 2009 – 13 October 2009
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Caroline Flint
Succeeded by	Chris Bryant
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 30 June 2009 – 9 April 2021 Life peerage
Member of the European Parliament for Wales South Wales East (1994–1999)
In office 19 July 1994 – 5 June 2009
Preceded by	Llew Smith
Succeeded by	Derek Vaughan
Personal details
Born	Glenys Elizabeth Parry (1944-07-07)7 July 1944 Roade, Northamptonshire, England
Died	3 December 2023(2023-12-03) (aged 79) London, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Neil Kinnock ​(m. 1967)​
Children	Stephen Rachel
Alma mater	Cardiff University

Glenys Elizabeth Kinnock, Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead, FRSA (née Parry; 7 July 1944 – 3 December 2023) was a British politician and teacher who served as Minister of State for Europe from June to October 2009 and Minister of State for Africa and the United Nations from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, she was previously a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales, formerly South Wales East, from 1994 to 2009.

Early life

Glenys Elizabeth Parry was born in Roade, Northamptonshire, and educated at Holyhead High School, Anglesey. She graduated in 1965 from University College, Cardiff in education and history. Parry worked at Moorland Primary School, Splott, in 1966. She met her future husband Neil Kinnock at university and married him in 1967. She worked as a teacher in secondary, primary, infant and nursery schools, including the Wykeham Primary School, Neasden, London, when she was a member of the National Union of Teachers (NUT).

European Parliament

Kinnock represented Wales in the European Parliament from 1994 until 2009, where she was a member of the Party of European Socialists (PES) political group. She was a Member of the European Parliament's Development and Co-operation Committee and a substitute member of the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs. She was a co-president of the African, Caribbean and Pacific-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly from 2002 to 2009, and Labour spokesperson on International Development in the European Parliament. In November 2006 Kinnock was criticised for "taking a junket" to Barbados to discuss world poverty issues. She co-presided over the 12th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, which was invited by the Barbados government to discuss international aid and development.

Domestic political career

In the 2009 cabinet reshuffle, Kinnock was appointed minister for Europe following the resignation of Caroline Flint. To enable her to join the government, she was awarded a life peerage and became Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead, of Holyhead in the County of Ynys Môn on 30 June 2009. She was introduced to the House of Lords on the same day.

In 2009, while she was minister for Europe, the status of the Welsh language was elevated to make it equal with several other European minority languages, such as Catalan. The cost of translation services was to be met by the Welsh Assembly and the Welsh Language Board. Kinnock commented "This demonstrates a clear commitment by the EU to promote its unique and diverse cultural heritage."

From 2009 to 2010 Kinnock served as minister of state for Africa and the United Nations, filling a post left vacant after the resignation of Lord Malloch-Brown. From 2010 to 2013 she was an Opposition spokesperson for the Department of International Development in the House of Lords. Kinnock retired from the Lords on 9 April 2021.

Personal life

She was the wife of Neil Kinnock, who was leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.

Kinnock grew up speaking Welsh, but did not use the language in conversation with her husband or her son, Stephen Kinnock. Her son is married to the former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and through him she had two grandchildren. Through her daughter Rachel, she had two granddaughters and a grandson. She was a member of the GMB trade union and the Co-operative Party.

In 2017, Kinnock was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Her husband spoke about their experience with the disease and providing support for her. Kinnock died at her home in London on 3 December 2023, at the age of 79.

Publications

• Voices for One World, 1987
• Eritrea – Images of War and Peace, 1988
• Namibia – Birth of a Nation, 1991
• By Faith and Daring, 1993
• Zimbabwe on the Brink, 2002

Articles

• "The Rape of Darfur", 2006 (The Guardian)
• "A Lethal Bully That Must Be Tackled", 2006 (The Times)
• "The Need for an Ethical Foreign Policy, Mark II", 2007 (The Independent)
• "Cambodia's Brazen U.N. Bird", 2012 (The New York Times)

References

1. "Glenys Kinnock, ex-minister and wife of former Labour leader, dies aged 79". The Times. 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
2. ^ Browne, Adrian (3 December 2023). "Glenys Kinnock: The political spouse who became a force in her own right". BBC News. Retrieved 3 December 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
3. "Glenys on hand for century". South Wales Echo. 8 March 1991. Retrieved 3 December 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
4. Ellam, Dennis (5 March 1989). "Profile: Glenys Kinnock". Wales on Sunday. Retrieved 3 December 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
5. Francis, Sam (3 December 2023). "Glenys Kinnock: Former minister and wife of Neil Kinnock dies aged 79". BBC News. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
6. "The Socialist Group in the European Parliament". Archived from the original on 3 January 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2007.
7. "The European Parliament Development and Cooperation Committee".
8. "The European Parliament committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights".
9. "Politician Glenys Kinnock of Holyhead". North Wales Daily Post. 9 November 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
10. "The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly".
11. Swaine, Jon (6 June 2009). "Former leader's wife hurried in as Flint's replacement". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 December 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
12. "No. 59121". The London Gazette. 7 July 2009. p. 11621.
13. "Lords Hansard text". Parliament of the United Kingdom. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
14. Gimson, Andrew (1 July 2009). "What the Dickens? Balls plays Wackford Squeers". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 December 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
15. "Welsh language welcomed by European Commission". The Translation People. 12 July 2009. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
16. Sparrow, Andrew (12 October 2009). "Chris Bryant replaces Glenys Kinnock". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
17. Lady Kinnock profile Archived 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, parliament.uk; accessed 31 December 2013.
18. "Retirements of Members - Tuesday 13 April 2021 - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
19. "'Don't say I'm retiring!' - Glenys Kinnock MEP". Wales Online. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
20. "Kinnock at 80: The former Labour leader on life, politics and his beloved wife". ITV News. London. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
21. "Alzheimer's: Neil Kinnock supporting wife through disease". BBC News. 27 March 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
22. "Glenys Kinnock: Former MEP, minister and wife of ex-Labour leader dies aged 79". Sky News. 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.

External links

• Profile at European Parliament website
• Speeches made in the European Parliament
• Mrs Kinnock, co-president of the ACP EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
• "The rape of Darfur". The Guardian. London. 18 January 2006. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018.
• "A lethal bully that must be tackled". The Times. London. 2006.
• "The need for an ethical foreign policy, Mark II". The Independent. London. 2007.
• "Cambodia's Brazen U.N. Bid". The New York Times. 16 October 2012. Archived from the original on 30 November 2018.

v t e Minister for European affairs in the UK Foreign Office
Margaret Thatcher	Hurd (1979–1983) Rifkind (1983–1986) Chalker (1986–1989) Maude (1989–1990)
John Major	Garel-Jones (1990–1993) Heathcoat-Amory (1993–1994) Davis (1994–1997)
Tony Blair	Henderson (1997–1998) Quin (1998–1999) Hoon (1999) Vaz (1999–2001) Hain (2001–2002) MacShane (2002–2005) Alexander (2005–2006) Hoon (2006–2007)
Gordon Brown	Murphy (2007–2008) Flint (2008–2009) Kinnock (2009) Bryant (2009–2010)
David Cameron	Lidington (2010–2016)
Theresa May	Duncan (2016–2019)
Boris Johnson	Pincher (2019–2020) Morton (2020–2021) Heaton-Harris (2021–2022) Cleverly (2022) Stuart (2022)
Liz Truss	Docherty (2022)
Rishi Sunak	Docherty (2022–2024) Ghani (2024)
Keir Starmer	Doughty (2024–)

v t e Neil Kinnock
Political career	Leader of the Labour Party (1983–1992) Shadow Cabinet Member of Parliament for Bedwellty (1970–1983) Member of Parliament for Islwyn (1983–1995)
Shadow Cabinet elections	1980 1981 1982
Party elections	1983 1988
General elections	1987 1992
Family	Glenys Kinnock (wife) Stephen Kinnock (son) Helle Thorning-Schmidt (daughter-in-law)
Related topics	Sheffield Rally War of Jennifer's Ear

• 1944 births
• 2023 deaths
• 20th-century British women politicians
• 20th-century British women writers
• 20th-century women MEPs for Wales
• 21st-century British women politicians
• 21st-century British women writers
• 21st-century women MEPs for Wales
• Alumni of Cardiff University
• British baronesses
• British secularists
• Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
• Deaths from dementia in England
• Kinnock family
• Labour Friends of Israel
• Labour Party (UK) life peers
• Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II
• MEPs for Wales 1994–1999
• MEPs for Wales 1999–2004
• MEPs for Wales 2004–2009
• Peers retired under the House of Lords Reform Act 2014
• People educated at Holyhead High School
• People from Holyhead
• People from West Northamptonshire District
• Schoolteachers from Northamptonshire
• Spouses of life peers
• Welsh Labour MEPs
• Welsh humanists
• Welsh socialists
• Welsh-speaking politicians