Liz Kendall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Liz Kendall
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Official portrait, 2024
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| Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 July 2024 |
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| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Mel Stride | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament for Leicester West |
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| Assumed office 6 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Patricia Hewitt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 8,777 (24.8%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born |
Elizabeth Louise Kendall
11 June 1971 Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, England |
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| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Queens' College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elizabeth Louise Kendall (born 11 June 1971) is a British politician. She has been the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since July 2024. As a member of the Labour Party, she has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester West since 2010.
Kendall grew up in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, and later studied at the University of Cambridge. From 2011 to 2015, she was a Shadow Minister for Care and Older People. This role meant she helped lead the opposition's ideas on health and social care. In April 2020, Keir Starmer appointed her as the Shadow Minister for Social Care.
Early Life and Political Start
Elizabeth Kendall was born on 11 June 1971 in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire. She went to Watford Grammar School for Girls. Her father worked at the Bank of England, and her mother was a primary school teacher. Her parents encouraged her and her brother to discuss politics and get involved in their community.
Kendall's first political campaign was for a local zebra crossing. After school, she attended Queens' College, Cambridge, and earned a degree in history in 1993.
Joining the Labour Party
Kendall joined the Labour Party in 1992. After graduating, she worked at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). There, she focused on child development and early learning. In 1996, she became a political adviser to Harriet Harman. Harman was a government minister after Labour won the 1997 general election.
In 1998, Kendall left her role and received a fellowship from the King's Fund, a health charity. She also wrote research papers for the IPPR. She became the Director of the Maternity Alliance, a charity for pregnant women.
Career Before Parliament
In 2001, Kendall returned to government to work for Patricia Hewitt. She worked in the Department for Trade and Industry and then the Department for Health. Here, she helped bring in the smoking ban in 2006. After Hewitt left government, Kendall became the Director of the Ambulance Services Network. She stayed in this role until 2010.
Parliamentary Career
In the 2010 general election, Liz Kendall was elected as the MP for Leicester West. She won with 38.4% of the votes. Her first speech in Parliament was on 10 June 2010, about tackling poverty in the UK.
Early Years as an MP (2010-2015)
Kendall was a member of the Education Select Committee for a short time in 2010. She supported David Miliband in the 2010 Labour Party leadership election.
In October 2010, she joined the Opposition frontbench as a Shadow Junior Health Minister. In 2011, she helped write The Purple Book. This book shared ideas from Labour MPs. Later that year, she became the Shadow Minister for Care and Older People. She also attended meetings of the shadow cabinet.
Kendall was re-elected as MP for Leicester West in the 2015 general election. She won with more votes this time.
Running for Labour Leader
On 10 May 2015, Kendall announced she would run to become the leader of the Labour Party. This was after their defeat in the 2015 general election. Many in the media saw her as a "modernising candidate." Several Shadow Cabinet members and senior Labour politicians supported her.
The Sun newspaper praised her leadership bid in June 2015. They said she was Labour's "only prayer." She finished fourth in the election, getting 4.5% of the votes.
Leaving and Returning to the Frontbench
Kendall resigned from the Shadow Cabinet after Jeremy Corbyn became Labour leader in September 2015. She supported Owen Smith in his attempt to replace Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.
She was re-elected as MP for Leicester West in the 2017 general election with an even larger majority. She was re-elected again in the 2019 general election.
Keir Starmer reappointed Kendall to the frontbench after he won the 2020 Labour leadership election. On 4 September 2023, she became the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2024-Present)
In the 2024 general election, Kendall was re-elected as MP for Leicester West. After the election, Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed her as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. She joined the Privy Council on 6 July 2024.
Since becoming Secretary of State, Liz Kendall has started reforms to the UK's welfare system. Her main goal is to help people find and keep jobs, not just receive benefits. She believes factors like health, skills, childcare, and transport are important for employment.
Kendall has proposed a "Youth Guarantee" for 18 to 21-year-olds. This program aims to ensure young people are either working or learning. It offers training or job opportunities. If young people refuse to take part, their benefits could be reduced. Kendall believes that being unemployed when young can harm future job chances.
She has also suggested tightening the rules for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and incapacity benefits. These changes aim to save money and are expected to affect about one million people. This includes those with mental health conditions and minor physical difficulties.
These proposed changes have caused debate. Disability charities and other political parties have criticized them. They argue that these changes could make life harder for disabled people. Kendall has said she wants a balanced approach. She aims to manage money responsibly while helping vulnerable people. She also wants to use savings to fund programs that help people on health-related benefits find work.
Political Views
Economy and Money
During her 2015 leadership campaign, Kendall supported the living wage. She wanted to encourage more companies to pay it. She also aimed to stop companies from unfairly deducting costs from care workers' wages. She supports having workers represented on company boards.
Defence and Foreign Policy
Kendall is in favour of the UK rejoining the European Union. She supported a public vote on Britain's EU membership. She also believes the UK should spend at least 2% of its GDP on defence, as agreed by NATO. She supports renewing Britain's Trident nuclear submarines.
Kendall supports a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. She has been a member of Labour Friends of Israel since 2016.
Education
Kendall sees education as a way to reduce inequality. She supports expanding the academies programme and keeping the free schools initiative. She believes the focus should be on the quality of education. She also thinks investing in the early years (for very young children) is very important. Kendall has said that more effort is needed to help "white working class young" people achieve their goals in education.
Health and Welfare
Kendall has supported giving patients more choice in the NHS. She believes private and charity groups can help the NHS by providing extra services. In 2015, Kendall supported the £23,000 benefit cap. She also supports the idea of limiting child benefits to two children. In 2024, as Work and Pensions Secretary, Kendall suggested that job coaches could visit people in mental health wards to help them find work. She has also stated that some people on benefits might be "taking advantage" of the system, which she uses to justify efforts to help those with less severe illnesses return to work.
Immigration
Kendall supported David Cameron's idea to delay or withdraw the right for EU migrants to claim tax credits and benefits. She supports the current points-based immigration system. She also backs strict rules against abusing the immigration system. However, she has also spoken about the benefits that immigration brings to her own local area.
Devolution
Kendall supports "radical devolution" to England. This means giving more power to local areas in England. She believes in sharing power at every level, down to communities and individuals.
Trade Unions
Kendall supports the Labour Party's links with trade unions. However, she believes both groups need to change. She has said that if she became Prime Minister, she would reverse any changes to trade union and employment rights made by the previous Conservative government.
Social Issues
Kendall supports LGBT rights and voted for same-sex marriage in 2013. She has said that under her leadership, the Labour Party would work with other parties to end the unfair treatment of homosexual people around the world. She also supported Michael Cashman becoming the UK's special envoy on LGBTI issues.
She announced her support for legislation on assisted dying in November 2024.
Personal Life
Kendall was previously in a relationship with actor and comedian Greg Davies. They ended their relationship before the 2015 general election. In November 2021, Kendall announced she would take maternity leave in 2022. She had a baby through surrogacy, and her son was born in January 2022.
Kendall became a member of the Privy Council on 6 July 2024. This means she can use the title "The Right Honourable".
See also
In Spanish: Liz Kendall para niños
