Kevin Barron

Sir Kevin John Barron (born 26 October 1946) is a British Labour Party politician and former coal industry worker.

Kevin John Barron, the son of Richard and Edna Barron, was born on 26 October 1946 at Hazlewood Castle, Tadcaster, Yorkshire, and educated at Maltby Hall Secondary Modern School, Ruskin College, and the University of Sheffield, where he earned a Diploma in Labour Studies in 1977, and was reportedly a member of Militant.

[2] In 1983 Peter Hardy, Labour MP for Rother Valley, decided to switch constituencies to fight the equally safe neighbouring new seat of Wentworth.

[3] In 1985, Barron was made a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition Neil Kinnock, a position he held until the 1988 election.

[citation needed] Barron was a leading figure in the campaign to rewrite Clause IV under the new leadership of Tony Blair, and it came as a surprise that there was no job in government for him after the victorious 1997 general election.

In the review of Past Additional Cost Allowance by Sir Thomas Legg QC, Barron was found to have no issues and was not required to repay any monies.

In July 2010, he was appointed chair of the parliamentary Standards and Privileges Committee[4] and was returned unopposed to that post after the 2015 general election.

[11] He supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.