Alicia Pamela Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of Cradley, Baroness Kennedy of Southwark (born 22 March 1969) is a British

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Early life

Kennedy attended the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

between 1988 and 1991, gaining a BSc in psychology.

Professional career

She worked as a regional organiser for the Labour Party, 1995–1997, political advisor to

Joan Ruddock Dame Joan Mary Ruddock, (née Anthony; born 28 December 1943) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham Deptford from 1987 to 2015. Ruddock was Minister of State for Energy at the Departmen ...

MP, 1997-1998 and a policy advisor to the leader of the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...

, 1999–2000. She then worked for the party's central organisation, including as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

, 2001-2005 and Deputy General Secretary, 2006–2011. She was an advisor to party leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

from 2011 to 2013. In June 2020 she was appointed Director of

Generation Rent A generation refers to all of the people Childbirth, born and Personhood, living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average Era, period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during whic ...

. In July 2021, in the wake of the Covid crisis, she and Lord Bird of Notting Hill called for an end to section 21 evictions in the private rental sector. In March 2022 she joined calls for a rent freeze in London.

Political career

On 19 September 2013, she was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baroness Kennedy of Cradley, of Cradley in the

Metropolitan Borough of Dudley The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stour ...

on the nomination from

Labour leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of the ...

. In the House of Lords she was a member of Joint Committee on the Draft Modern Slavery Bill which examined the proposals from the Government and presently serves on the Affordable Childcare Committee. In 2014 she was elected as a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Merid ...

representing Brockley. She resigned in September 2016.

Personal life

She is married to

Roy Kennedy, Baron Kennedy of Southwark Roy Francis Kennedy, Baron Kennedy of Southwark, (born 9 November 1962) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and life peer serving as Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords since 2021. Early life Born in Lambeth, London to I ...

, a fellow Labour peer and a Lewisham councillor.

References

External links

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley
– House of Lords
Alicia Kennedy
– LinkedIn 1969 births Living people Alumni of the University of Warwick Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Labour Party (UK) councillors Councillors in the London Borough of Lewisham Spouses of life peers Women councillors in England {{life-peer-stub