Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws

The Right Honourable The Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws QC, FRSA
Kennedy signing The Convention on Modern Liberty in January 2009
Born	Helena Ann Kennedy (1950-05-12) 12 May 1950 Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Occupation	Barrister, television presenter
Employer	Mansfield College, Oxford; BBC
Political party	Labour Party
Spouse(s)	Iain Louis Hutchison; 2 children
Partner(s)	Iain Mitchell (1978–84); 1 child
Children	Keir Kennedy Mitchell Clio Kennedy Hutchison Roland Kennedy Hutchison
Website	www.helenakennedy.co.uk

Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, QC, FRSA (born 12 May 1950),^[1] is a British barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. Baroness Kennedy is a former chair of the Human Genetics Commission, which advises Her Majesty's Government on ethical, social, and legal issues arising from developments in genetic science.

Background

Lady Kennedy was born in Glasgow to a devoutly Roman Catholic family. She is one of four sisters born to Joshua Patrick and Mary Veronica (née Jones) Kennedy, both committed Labour activists. Her father, a printer with the Daily Record, was a trade union official.^[1] She attended Holyrood Secondary School in Glasgow, where she was appointed Head Girl.

Kennedy still regularly attends Mass and professes that her Catholicism "remains very much part of who I am", even though she eschews its more traditional values. She went on to study Law at London's Council of Legal Education.^[1]

Legal career

Among her many cases, Kennedy acted as junior counsel for child murderer Myra Hindley during the latter's 1974 trial for plotting to escape from Holloway.^[2]

Politics

Lady Kennedy rebels against her party whip in the House of Lords more frequently than any other Labour Peer, having a dissent rate of 33.3%.^[3] She was Chair of Charter 88 (1992–97) and is closely affiliated to the educational charity Common Purpose.

Academia

Lady Kennedy was elected principal of Mansfield College, Oxford in July 2010 (in which office she has served since September 2011).^[4]

Personal life

Her first partner was the actor Iain Mitchell, with whom she lived from 1978 until 1984, and by whom she has a son. In 1986, Kennedy married Dr Iain Louis Hutchison (a surgeon), with whom she has a daughter and a son.^[1]

Honours

She has received numerous academic awards, including:

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
Fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute (FCGI)
Member of the Académie Universelle des Cultures (Paris)
Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2005
Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 2005
Honorary Fellow, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
Honorary Fellow, University of Cambridge, 2010
Honorary Fellow, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), 2011
Honorary Doctorate of Law, Plymouth University, 2012^[5]

Broadcasting

Creator: Blind Justice, BBC TV, 1987
Presenter: Heart of the Matter, BBC TV, 1987
After Dark, Channel 4 and BBC4, 1987–2003
- She presented many editions of this series, including the "drunk Oliver Reed" episode, where the actor verbally insulted and attempted to kiss feminist Kate Millett
Presenter: Raw Deal on Medical Negligence, BBC TV, 1989
Presenter: The Trial of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', BBC Radio 4, 1990
Presenter: Time Gentlemen, Please, BBC Scotland, 1994 (Winner, Television Programme Award category, 1994 Industrial Journalism Awards)
Commissioner, BAFTA Inquiry into the future of the BBC, 1990

Public leadership

President, Helena Kennedy Foundation
President of the Board the Governors of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)^[6]
President, Women of the Year Lunch (2010–2015)^[7]
Chair, JUSTICE
Chair of the Board of Governors for the United World College of the Atlantic
President, Medical Aid for Palestinians
Patron, Burma Campaign UK, the London-based group campaigning for human rights and democracy in Burma
Member of the Board of Independent News and Media
Trustee, KPMG Foundation
Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University (1994–2001)
Chair, British Council (1998–2004)
Chair, Human Genetics Commission (1998–2007)
President of the National Children's Bureau (1998–2005)
Kennedy chaired the Power Commission (November 2005 – March 2006), which examined the problem of democratic disengagement in the United Kingdom. A report was produced which highlighted the "Myth of Apathy" and the lack of political engagement
Chair of Power 2010, which aimed to carry forward the concepts behind the Power Commission into the UK 2010 General Election
Member of the World Bank Institute's External Advisory Council
Member of the board of the British Museum
Vice-President of the Haldane Society
Vice-President of the Association of Women Barristers
Patron, London International Festival of Theatre^[8] liftfestival.com
Patron, Institute for Learning (IfL) http://www.ifl.ac.uk
Patron, Liberty
Patron, UNLOCK, The National Association of Ex-Offenders
Patron, Debt Doctors Foundation UK (DD-UK)
Patron, Tower Hamlets Summer University
Patron, Rights Watch (UK)
Patron of SafeHands for Mothers, a UK-based charity whose mission is to improve maternal and newborn health by harnessing the power of the visual, through the production of films.^[9]
Chair, Howard League's Commission of Inquiry into Violence in Penal Institutions for Young People (the final report, Banged Up, Beaten Up, Cutting Up, published in 1995)
Chair, Reading Borough Council's Commission of Inquiry into the health, environmental and safety aspects of the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston (final report Secrecy versus Safety, published in 1994)
Chair, Royal Colleges of Pathologists' and of Pædiatrics' Inquiry into Sudden Infant Death (producing a protocol for the investigation of such deaths in 2004)
Member of the Foreign Policy Centre's Advisory Council
Formerly UK member of the International Bar Association's Task Force on Terrorism
As Commissioner of the National Commission for Education, she chaired a committee on widening participation in further education and the Commission's report, Learning Works, published in 1997.

Honours

Created a Life Peer, as Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, of Cathcart in the City of Glasgow on 27 October 1997^[10]
Grand Cross, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (2004)
Commandeur, Ordre des Palmes Académiques (2006)

Bibliography

Eve was Framed: Women and British Justice, 1993; ISBN 0-09-922441-0
Just Law: The changing face of justice and why it matters to us, 2004; ISBN 0-09-945833-0

References

1 2 3 4 Wroe, Nicholas (27 March 2004). "A radical in the House". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
↑ "One of Your Own: The Life and Death of Myra Hindley", by Carol Ann Lee (2012).
↑ Rebel Lords — Current members The Public Whip
↑ "Baroness Helena Kennedy QC elected next Principal of Mansfield College", University of Oxford Mansfield College, 13 April 2011.
↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
↑ "2016: A Vision and Strategy for the Centennial" Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. (p. 18), School of Oriental and African Studies, April 2010
↑ Qureshi, Huma (17 October 2012). "Helena Kennedy: 'Women's struggles are not over'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
↑ "Meet The Team", LIFT. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
↑ "SafeHands for Mothers". SafeHands for Mothers. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
↑ "No. 54934". The London Gazette. 30 October 1997. p. 12205.

External links

Academic offices
Preceded by New Institution	Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University 1994–2001	Succeeded by Jon Snow

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