Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws

Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018. A bencher of Gray's Inn, she is an Honorary Writer to the Signet and the recipient of 42 honorary degrees from many universities including those of Glasgow and Edinburgh in recognition of work on women and the law and on widening participation in higher education. She is president of Justice, the law reform think tank, and director of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI). In 2024, Kennedy succeeded Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury as chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom.

Early life and education Kennedy was born on 12 May 1950 in Glasgow, Scotland, one of the four daughters of Mary Veronica (née Jones) and Joshua Patrick Kennedy, nicknamed "Mae" and "Joss", respectively. Her parents were committed Labour activists and devoutly Catholic. Her father, who served for six years in the British Armed Forces during World War II, was a printer with the Daily Record and a trade union official, volunteered to help women who suffered from domestic violence or alcoholism in the family. including Michael House, Marguerite Russell and David Watkinson. Among her many cases, Kennedy acted as junior counsel for child murderer Myra Hindley during her 1974 trial for plotting to escape from Holloway Prison, and was involved as a barrister in the 1984 Brighton hotel bombing trial in 1986 and in the successful Guildford Four appeal in 1989.

Politics Kennedy was a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain during the early 1970s, which she later regretted. She was made a life peer in October 1997 on account of her role as chair of Charter 88, whose constitutional reform policies had been adopted by the Labour Party, Following her appointment, she became a prominent critic of the party's direction, She has rebelled against her party whip in the House of Lords more frequently than any other Labour peer, with a dissent rate of 11.5% as of 2025.

In May 2009, in reaction to the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal, she launched the campaign for a referendum on a "more proportional electoral system" at the following election with an open letter in The Guardian, which eventually led to the 2011 United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum. She was subsequently reported to be organising a coalition of independent candidates to run in the election against the MPs involved in the expenses scandal, who included members of her own party, but denied the allegation.

In 2020, she worked with the Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith and democracy activist Luke de Pulford to create the global pressure group Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. In March 2021, China placed sanctions on her. The sanctions were condemned by the Prime Minister and led the Foreign Secretary to summon the Chinese ambassador. The sanctions were lifted on 30 January 2026 during a visit by Prime Minister Keir Starmer to China.

Academia Kennedy became the first chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, serving from 1994 until 2001.

In 1998, she agreed to lend her name to Ann Limb's charitable initiative to fund higher education for disadvantaged students, which became the Helena Kennedy Foundation. She retired in 2018 and became chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University on 26 July 2018.

Personal life From 1978 to 1984 she lived with the actor Iain Mitchell, and together they had a son. In 1986 Kennedy married Iain Louis Hutchison, a surgeon, with whom she has a daughter and a son. She has five grandchildren.

Honours She has received numerous awards, including: Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) Fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute (FCGI) Member of the (Paris) Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2005 Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 2005 Honorary Fellow, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Honorary Fellow, Lucy Cavendish College, University of Cambridge, 2010 Honorary Fellow, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), 2011 Honorary Doctorate of Law, Plymouth University, 2012 Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (HonFRSE), 2014 She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 Women of 2021. She was chosen to carry the Queen's Rod in the Royal Procession at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla. She was appointed as a Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle (LT) by King Charles III in 2024.

Broadcasting

Creator: Blind Justice, BBC TV, 1987 Presenter: Heart of the Matter, BBC TV, 1987 After Dark, Channel 4 and BBC4, 1987–2003 Kennedy presented many editions of this series, including the 1991 "Do Men Have To Be Violent" featuring an inebriated Oliver Reed who insulted and attempted to kiss feminist Kate Millett, as well as the 1995 special "Ireland: Sex & Celibacy, Church & State" which included an unscheduled last-minute appearance from singer Sinéad O'Connor. Presenter: Raw Deal on Medical Negligence, BBC TV, 1989 Presenter: The Trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover, BBC Radio 4, 1990 Presenter: Time Gentlemen, Please, BBC Scotland, 1994 (Winner, Television Programme Award category, 1994 Industrial Journalism Awards)

Appointments

Legal, political and governmental President of Council (formerly Chair ), JUSTICE Director, International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) Chair, High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom (2024–) Member of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom Member of the World Bank Institute's External Advisory Council (1998–2005) Member of the International Bar Association's Task Force on Terrorism (2001–2003) Former member of the Foreign Policy Centre's Advisory Council Former board member of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (2010) Co-director (with Kate Mallinson), Future of Russia Foundation (2016–2019) Commissioner, CIBA Commission on Child Sexual Abuse within the Family (sponsored by the CIBA Foundation, 1981–1983) Commissioner, National Commission on Education (NCE, sponsored by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, 1991–1994) Chair of Power 2010 (extending the Power Inquiry to the 2010 general election) Commissioner, Government Commission on a British Bill of Rights (2010) Vice-president of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers (since at least 1986 ) Vice-president of the Association of Women Barristers

Economic and cultural Chair of the board of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA, established by Heather Rabbatts, 2024–) Trustee, The Tablet Trust Trustee, KPMG Foundation Trustee, Media Standards Trust (2006–2015) Chair, Booker Prize Foundation (2015–2020) Former Vice President of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (from 2017) Honorary Patron and former president, Medical Aid for Palestinians Council member, Howard League for Penal Reform (1992–2002) Patron, Public Law Project Patron, Institute for Learning (IfL) Patron, Liberty Patron, UNLOCK, The National Association of Ex-Offenders Patron, Debt Doctors Foundation UK (DD-UK) Patron, Tower Hamlets Summer University Patron, Patron of SafeHands for Mothers, a UK-based charity whose mission is to improve maternal and newborn health by harnessing the power of the visual, through the production of films. Patron of The Death Penalty Project

Civic honours Created a life peer as Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, of Cathcart in the City of Glasgow on 27 October 1997. 40px Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on 23 March 2004.