Stephen Kinnock has described his appointment as Welsh Secretary as an "honour", capping a journey that took him from Tredegar to posts in Russia, Switzerland, and Denmark before he entered Westminster.
Born in 1970 in Tredegar, the same year his father Neil was elected to Parliament, Kinnock initially tried to avoid politics. "In my early years," he says, "it was all about getting away from it all." He wanted to "really carve my own path", but in 2014 he decided to stand for Parliament, following his father, who led the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.
Career Before Westminster
Kinnock studied modern languages at Queens' College, Cambridge, followed by a Masters at the College of Europe in Bruges. His first job was as a research assistant at the European Parliament, where his mother Glenys served as an MEP from 1994 to 2009. He then worked for the British Council in St Petersburg and Sierra Leone before joining the World Economic Forum in 2009, based in Davos, Switzerland, as head of Europe and Central Asia.
At the College of Europe he met his future wife, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who later became Prime Minister of Denmark. For years he split his life between Switzerland and Copenhagen. His time abroad led him to call himself a "global Welshman" in his maiden Commons speech in 2015, the year he was elected MP for Aberavon, defeating Jeremy Miles for the Labour nomination.
Why He Entered Politics
Kinnock said his time in Russia was decisive. "It was at a time when I think the Russian regime was really starting to go very much down the wrong path," he said, describing a "front-row seat in this world where there's no democracy, there's no accountability." He added: "It really brought it home to me how important our democracy is and how important our security is, the freedom and the values that we have here, and how fragile it all is."
Westminster was always his ambition. "I've always felt that the UK was the place where I could contribute the most, partly because of my international experience," he said. "I believe so strongly in the United Kingdom, and Wales' place in the United Kingdom."
Family and Name Recognition
He acknowledged that carrying the Kinnock name "cuts both ways." During his selection for Aberavon, he told voters: "Don't vote for me because I'm a Kinnock, and don't vote against me because I'm a Kinnock." He said the margin of victory was "extremely tight."
His father remains a close confidante. "I try, whenever I can, and go and have a pint with him on over at the weekend, usually on a Sunday evening," he said. He noted that many MPs are inspired by family members, though his father's profile attracted "vicious personal slurs."
His wife, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, has held roles including CEO of Save the Children and board member of the Facebook Oversight Group. She has 157,000 Instagram followers to his 4,200. Their children are Johanna and Milo, who came out as transgender and non-binary in 2022. Kinnock said: "I'm just so proud of my son, Milo, who knows who he is."
Role as Welsh Secretary
In July this year, Prime Minister Andy Burnham appointed Kinnock to his cabinet as Welsh Secretary. Kinnock said the call came late: "The call didn't come until about 9.45pm or 10pm." He described the role as "an honour and a privilege and then to be a strong voice for Wales at the cabinet table."
He cited priorities including £2.5 billion invested in Wylfa and £500 million to revitalise the steel industry through the electric arc furnace. On rail, he said: "We have a commitment to £14 billion of funding for rail for Wales." He added: "We've got £445 million committed. We want to see spades in the ground on the Burns stations this year."
On the Wales Office's relationship with the Welsh Government, he said: "We want to offer the hand of cooperation." He added: "We are absolutely clear about what Andy Burnham so passionately set out in his speech: solidarity, not separation."
