Neil Gordon Kinnock

Neil Gordon Kinnock, born in 1942, British politician and former leader of the Labour Party.

The son of a miner and steelworker, Kinnock was born in Tredegar, Wales, and educated at Lewis Grammar School and University College, Cardiff, where he studied history and industrial relations. He joined the Workers' Educational Association as a tutor and organizer and was elected to Parliament in 1970.

Kinnock was on the left wing of the party during the second administration of the Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson (1974-1976). He refused posts offered by Wilson's successor, Prime Minister James Callaghan (1976-1979), preferring to focus on the lower levels of party activity.

After the Conservative victory in the 1979 elections, he accepted the position of junior education spokesman for the Labour Party. Labour's heavy defeat in 1983 led party leader Michael Foot to resign and Kinnock was elected to succeed him; at the same time, he was the youngest person ever to hold the position. Breaking with the party's militant left wing, he adopted a more moderate position, helping restore the party's fortunes. Although defeated again, Labour did better in the 1987 election, and in 1992 the party was ahead in the preelection public opinion polls. After an unexpected Conservative victory, Kinnock resigned as leader.

In 1994 he was appointed a member of the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union.