Jane Elizabeth Kennedy (born 4 May 1958, as Jane Elizabeth Hodgson) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. She was born in Cumbria and trained as a social worker at Liverpool University. She worked in social care for Liverpool City Council from 1979 to 1988 when she became a trade union organiser for the National Union of Public Employees. In this post she was prominent in the campaign to drive members of the Militant Tendency out of the labour movement. May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Labour Party has since its formation in the early 20th century been the principal left wing political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics). ... Cumbria is a county in the North West region of England. ... A social worker is a person employed in the administration of charity, social service, welfare, and poverty agencies, advocacy, or religious outreach programs. ... The University of Liverpool is a university in the city of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. ... See City of Liverpool for other meanings Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) was a British trade union which represented public sector workers. ... It has been suggested that Militant (Britain) be merged into this article or section. ...

Kennedy has been an Member of Parliament since 1992, first for Liverpool Broadgreen then for Liverpool Wavertree from 1997. She was a whip from 1995 to 1999, initially in Opposition then in government following Labour's victory in the 1997 general election. She then served as a Junior Minister in the department of the Lord Chancellor from 1999 until 2001, when she became a Minister of State in the Northern Ireland Office with responsibility for security and the justice system. After the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly in October 2002, she also became responsible for education and employment in the province. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Liverpool Wavertree is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... In politics, a whip is a member of a political party in a legislature whose task is to ensure that members of the party attend and vote as the party leadership desires. ... Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. ... The UK general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997. ... The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor and in former times the Chancellor of England and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, is one of the most senior and important functionaries in the government of the United Kingdom, and its predecessor states. ... Minister of State is a title borne by officials in certain countries governed under the parliamentary system. ... The Northern Ireland Office (NIO) is an arm of the United Kingdom government, responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. ... The logo of the Northern Ireland Assembly is a six flowered linen or flax plant, chosen for the plants historical economic importance to the region. ...

She transferred to the Department of Work and Pensions in 2004 and then to the Department of Health after the 2005 general election, remaining a Minister of State. She left the government on 5 May 2006 during a wide-ranging reshuffle. She was initially thought by journalists to have been sacked; however, she subsequently said she took the opportunity to resign from the government, in light of concerns about the impact of the government's policies on the National Health Service. [1] The Department for Work and Pensions is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the Employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security. ... The Department of Health is a department of the British Government. ... The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 and won by the Labour Party, led by Tony Blair. ... May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Following poor results for the Labour Party in the May 4, 2006 local elections in England, British Prime Minister Tony Blair held a Cabinet reshuffle on May 5. ... The logo of the NHS for England. ...

External links

• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Jane Kennedy MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Jane Kennedy MP