Kevin McKenna is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sittingbourne and Sheppey since

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

. He flipped the seat from the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Early life and career

McKenna was born in

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies nort ...

and grew up in Welling, in the London Borough of Bexley. He was educated at St Stephen's Catholic Primary School in Welling and

Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School is a mixed-sex grammar school with academy status located in Hurst Road ( A222), Sidcup in the London Borough of Bexley, England. It is located adjacent to Lamorbey Park, the Rose Bruford College drama sc ...

. McKenna studied microbiology at the University of Warwick and later qualified as a

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

in the 1990s at the Nightingale Institute at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, a career change he made after exposure to the work of nurses caring for his friends impacted by the AIDS epidemic. He worked in the NHS as a frontline nurse in critical care in a number of London hospitals including University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and later in strategy on nationwide NHS programmes at

NHS England NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the ...

. In 2015, McKenna was a Darzi Fellow in clinical leadership. During the Covid-19 pandemic, McKenna worked as a matron at NHS Nightingale Hospital London. McKenna was selected to stand in Bexley and Bromley at the

2024 London Assembly election 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smalles ...

, losing out to the incumbent

where he reduced the Conservative majority at the election by over 10,000 votes.

Personal life

McKenna lives in Sittingbourne with his husband.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people UK MPs 2024–present Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English LGBTQ politicians LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom {{improve categories, date=July 2024