Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope

Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Hope (2011)

Archibald "Archy" Johnstone Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope Kt (born April 22, 1946 ) is a British politician of the Liberal Party and now the Liberal Democrats , who was a member of the House of Commons for almost 22 years and has been a life peer member since 2005 of the House of Lords is.

Life

After attending the Cranhill School, Kirkwood completed a degree in pharmacy at Heriot-Watt University , which he completed in 1971 with a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.Pharm.). He then completed a law degree and then worked as a solicitor .

In the general election of June 9, 1983 , he was elected as a candidate of the Liberal Party for the first time as a member of the House of Commons and last represented there for the Liberal Democrats for almost 22 years until the general election on May 5, 2005, the constituency of Roxburgh and Berwickshire .

During his long term in parliament he was first spokesman for the Liberal Party Group on Welfare, Health and Social Security from 1985 to 1987 and then for a short time spokesman for overseas development before serving as parliamentary group spokesman for Scotland from 1987 to 1988 . After the merger of the Liberal Party and large parts of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to form the Liberal and Social Democrats (SLD) and the renaming to Liberal Democrats, he was parliamentary group spokesman for welfare, health and education from 1988 to 1989, before he was from 1989 to 1994 acted as spokesman for welfare and social security. During this time he put forward two important bills of social law: the Access to Personal Files Act 1987 and the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 .

After Kirkwood between 1989 and 1992 was also first Deputy Parliamentary Secretary (Deputy Whip ), he acted from 1992 to 1997 as Parliamentary Chief Executive ( Chief Whip ) of the group of the Liberal Democrats. He was also the spokesman for his parliamentary group for community maintenance between 1994 and 1997, before he served as a member of the House of Commons Commission from 1997 until he left the lower house in 2005 , the supervisory body of the lower house. During this time he was first chairman of the House of Commons Committee on Social Security from 1997 to 2001 and then from 2001 to 2005 Chairman of the House of Commons Committee on Work and Pensions.

Kirkwood, who was between 1985 and 2007 chairman of the Rowntree Reform Trust and from 1989 to 1992 also chairman of the election campaign committee of the Liberal Democrats, was beaten in 2002 to a Knight Bachelor and from then on carried the suffix "Sir".

By a letters patent dated June 10, 2005 Kirkwood was raised to the nobility after his retirement from the House of Commons as a life peer with the title Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope , of Kirkhope in Scottish Borders . Shortly after its introduction was carried out ( Introduction ) as a member of the House of Lords . In the House of Lords he belongs to the Liberal Democrats.

Web links

• Entry on Parliament's homepage (accessed on November 16, 2012)
• Archibald Kirkwood at Hansard (English)
• Entry in They Work For You (accessed November 16, 2012)
• Biography in Debrett's (accessed November 16, 2012)