Kevin Joseph Maximilian Shinkwin, Baron Shinkwin (born 7 June 1971) is a British Conservative politician and member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

Early life and education

Shinkwin was educated at

Ratcliffe College Ratcliffe College is a coeducational Catholic independent boarding and day school near the village of Ratcliffe on the Wreake, Leicestershire, approximately from Leicester, England. The college, situated in of parkland on the Fosse Way about ...

where his father was a physics teacher. Ratcliffe is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Catholic school in

Ratcliffe on the Wreake Ratcliffe on the Wreake is a village and civil parish in the Charnwood district of Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 179. It is just to the north of the River Wreake, opposite East Goscote. ...

, Leicestershire. He also attended Llanarth Court School which was a public school in Raglan, Gwent for a few years. He studied British politics and legislative studies at the

University of Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1993.'SHINKWIN', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
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Career

He worked for almost 20 years in the voluntary sector, serving in various public affairs roles, including at

RNID The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), known as Action on Hearing Loss from 2011 to 2020, is a charitable organization working on behalf of the UK's 9 million people who are deaf or have hearing loss. History The Royal National I ...

, Macmillan,

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

, and

The Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in n ...

, where he led successful campaigns on the Armed Forces Covenant and securing reforms to the coroners service for bereaved Armed Forces families. Immediately prior to entering the Lords, he was Director of Public Affairs and Campaigns for the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, a position he resigned following his appointment to avoid a conflict of interest. On 21 April 2017 he was appointed a commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. He resigned from this position in December 2017.

Political career

He was created a life peer taking the title Baron Shinkwin, of Balham in the London Borough of Wandsworth on 14 October 2015. He was introduced to the

on 17 November 2015. He sits as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. Since becoming a Peer, he has focused on charity governance and disability equality issues. In a debate in March 2017 he described Britain's abortion laws as "a licence to kill for the crime of being disabled".

Personal life

He was born with

osteogenesis imperfecta Osteogenesis imperfecta (; OI), colloquially known as brittle bone disease, is a group of genetic disorders that all result in bones that break easily. The range of symptoms—on the skeleton as well as on the body's other organs—may b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinkwin, Kevin 1971 births Alumni of the University of Hull Living people Conservative Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II People educated at Ratcliffe College People with osteogenesis imperfecta British politicians with disabilities