Jane Elizabeth Kennedy (née Hodgson; born 4 May 1958) is a British politician and the inaugural Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner.

She served as a member of the social security select committee from 1992 to 1994, and in 1995 she was appointed as a Labour whip.

[7] It was announced in January 2010 the Wavertree Labour Party had picked Luciana Berger as the candidate to succeed her.

[8] This selection caused some controversy because Berger had stayed at Kennedy's home for a period before the selection, a home Kennedy shares with her partner Peter Dowling, the local Labour Party's agent.

Following the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly in October 2002, she also became responsible for education and employment in the province.

[11] In Gordon Brown's first government since becoming Prime Minister, Kennedy was appointed as the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, becoming the third ranked minister in the Treasury, taking on the ministerial responsibilities of the old Paymaster General, Dawn Primarolo.