The Right Honourable The Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope PC |
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Kirkwood, 2011
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Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats | |
In office 9 April 1992 – 1 May 1997 |
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Leader | Paddy Ashdown |
Preceded by | Jim Wallace |
Succeeded by | Paul Tyler |
Member of Parliament for Roxburgh and Berwickshire |
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In office 10 June 1983 – 11 April 2005 |
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Preceded by | Constituency Established |
Succeeded by | Constituency Abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | 22 April 1946 |
Nationality | British |
Political party | Liberal Democrat |
Spouse(s) | Rosemary Chester |
Alma mater | Heriot-Watt University |
Archibald Johnstone Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, PC (born 22 April 1946) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom.
Lord Kirkwood was educated at Cranhill School in Cranhill, Glasgow and studied Pharmacy at Heriot-Watt University, gaining a BSc in 1971. He became a solicitor in Hawick and Notary public.
Lord Kirkwood was Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Roxburgh and Berwickshire from 1983 until 2005.
In 1986 he with two other MPs Simon Hughes MP and Michael Meadowcroft MP and the National League of Young Liberals and other parts of the party produced the booklet Across the Divide Liberal Values on Defence and Disarmament This was the rally call that defeated the party leadership in the debate over the issue of an independent nuclear deterrent.
A Chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Work and Pensions, Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope, is listed in the House of Lords Register of Interests (Session 2006-2007) as the Chairman of the Unum Customer Advisory Panel for which he received payment from Unum. He received additional payments for other work for Unum.
Lord Kirkwood visited the USA for two conferences on welfare to work (29 October - 5 November 2005). The accommodation was paid for by the Rockefeller Foundation (New York), the Brico Fund (Milwaukee) and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
In May 2006, Unum (then UnumProvident) provided a memorandum to the Parliamentary Select Committee on Work and Pensions which included in clause 24. "At UnumProvident we have a non-medical, enabling model of rehabilitation and we are working with our partners at the UnumProvident Centre for Psychosocial and Disability Research at Cardiff University to better understand what places people at risk of long-term or chronic illness."