Neil Kinnock

Neil Kinnock

Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a British Labour Party politician. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995, first for Bedwellty and then for Islwyn. He was the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1983 until 1992, making him the longest-serving Leader of the Opposition in British political history to date, and the longest never to have become Prime Minister.

Following Labour's fourth consecutive defeat in the 1992 general election, Kinnock resigned as leader and resigned from the House of Commons three years later in order to become a European Commissioner. He went on to become the Vice-President of the European Commission under Romano Prodi from 1999 to 2004. Until the summer of 2009, he was also the Chairman of the British Council and the President of Cardiff University.