Hannah Kitching

Hannah Kitching, Baroness Kitching of Penistone is a British businesswoman, local government politician, and former physiotherapist.

From 2018 to 2026, she was a Liberal Democrat councillor on Barnsley Council, rising to become leader of the opposition. She stood as the Liberal Democratic candidate for Mayor of the Sheffield City Region in the 2018 mayoral election, and for the now named Mayor of South Yorkshire in the 2024 mayoral election. She has also stood unsuccessfully to be elected a Member of Parliament in the Penistone and Stocksbridge constituency in the 2019 general election, receiving 5,054 votes (10.2%), and in the Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton constituency in the 2024 general election, receiving 1,271 votes (3.3%).

In the July 2026 political peerages, it was announced that she was to be made a life peer and will sit in the House of Lords for the Liberal Democrats.