Labour's Stephen Kinnock in the running for Aberavon candidacy
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Version 0 of 1. Stephen Kinnock, the son of the former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and husband of the Danish prime minister, has had his path cleared to stand as the Labour candidate for Aberavon. A Labour sub-committee on Tuesday agreed that Aberavon should be one of two Welsh seats in which both men and women can stand for the Labour candidacy. Five seats were agreed as women-only shortlists. Kinnock will now have to persuade the local Aberavon party that he is the right candidate for Labour and that he can represent the seat and balance his working life with a partner holding what might be described as a demanding job in Denmark. Helle Thorning-Schmidt is not planning to stand down as Danish prime minister. She recently told a Danish newspaper: "I do admit it is unusual, but we have lived an unusual life in many ways and we always make it work. "I'm absolutely convinced we will make this work as well. So to all of you who are worried about the way we will make it work in our private household, don't worry too much." She most recently received publicity in the UK when she was shown taking a "selfie" photograph sitting alongside Barack Obama and David Cameron at Nelson Mandela's memorial service in South Africa. Kinnock told BBC Wales: "I have been a member of the Labour party since I was 15 years old, and of course politics is in my blood. "But it was always important for me to build my own career before making the decision to stand". He said his wife was supportive of his decision. The Aberavon Labour MP at the moment is Hywel Francis, who has announced his intention to stand down in 2015. On Monday the Labour organisation sub-committee welcomed the number of seats declared as all-women shortlists for parliamentary candidacies. A Labour official said: "If people want a parliament that is more open, plural and democratic, then we need to make big changes. Labour has the most successful record of women's representation in comparison to all other political parties and will always have equality as a core value." In key seats 56 of the selected candidates are women (amounting to 54%), and 48 are men. Labour held the south Wales seat of Aberavon with a majority of over 11,000 in the 2010 general election. Kinnock is employed by the business advisory company Xynteo, having previously worked for the British Council and the World Economic Forum. He left university in 1992, and lived and worked in Brussels, Russia, Africa and Switzerland. He moved back to the UK in July 2012, and has been based in London since then. Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |