Kathryn Mary Pinnock, Baroness Pinnock (born 25 September 1946) is a British Liberal Democrat politician,

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

, and former school teacher. Since 1987, she has been a member of Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council. She was leader of the council's Lib Dem group from 1991 to 2014, and

leader of the council Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

from 2000 to 2006. She was created a life peer in 2014 and now sits in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Early life

Pinnock was born on 25 September 1946. She attended the girls'

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

, the City of Bath Girls' School (now the Hayesfield Girls' School). She studied history and chemistry at

Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...

, graduating with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

. She remained at Keele to complete a teaching diploma.

Early career

Following university, Pinnock became a

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

teacher. She taught

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

in schools in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and Special Needs Maths at Rastrick High School in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

. She also served as Deputy Chief Examiner for

A-Level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

History for a number of years.

Political career

Local government

Since 1987, she has been a

local councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a Municipality, muni ...

, representing

Cleckheaton Cleckheaton is a town in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Bradford, east of Brighouse, west of Batley and so ...

on the

Kirklees Council Kirklees Council, also known as Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority for the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. As a metropolitan borough council it provides the majority of local government ser ...

. She was leader of the Lib Dem group on the council between 1991 and 2014. She was

from 2000 to 2006, and was the first female to hold this post.

House of Lords

In August 2014, it was announced that she was to be made a

. She was created a life peer on 23 September 2014 taking the title Baroness Pinnock, of

in the County of West Yorkshire. Since June 2015, she has been a member of the Home Affairs Sub-Committee of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

. In 2015, Pinnock was appointed the

Spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for Children for the Lib Dems, and in October 2016 she was appointed their Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

Honours

In July 2015, Pinnock was awarded an honorary

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

by the

University of Huddersfield The University of Huddersfield is a public research university located in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. It has been a University since 1992, but has its origins in a series of institutions dating back to the 19th century. It has made te ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinnock, Kath Living people Alumni of Keele University Councillors in Kirklees 1946 births Schoolteachers from Yorkshire Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II Leaders of local authorities of England Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Politicians from Bath, Somerset Place of birth missing (living people) Women councillors in England Schoolteachers from the West Midlands People educated at Hayesfield Girls' School, Bath