Kevin Joseph Maximilian Shinkwin, Baron Shinkwin (born 7 June 1971) is a

British Conservative The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. The party sits on the Cent ...

politician and member of 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 and education

Shinkwin was educated at

Ratcliffe College Ratcliffe College is a coeducational Catholic private 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 si ...

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 recorded ...

Catholic school in Ratcliffe on the Wreake, 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 The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

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

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 16 Oct 2017
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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 organisation 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 organisation. 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 Charitable organization, charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. ...

, 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 The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of e ...

. He resigned from this position in December 2017.

Political career

He 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

taking the title Baron Shinkwin, of

Balham Balham () is an List of areas of London, area in south-west London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, with small parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Lambeth. It has been settled since Saxon times and appears in t ...

in the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main communities are Battersea, Balham, P ...

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 and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. 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 bone fracture, break easily. The range of symptoms—on the skeleton as well as on the body's other Or ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinkwin, Kevin Shinkwin, Baron 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 British royalty and nobility with disabilities