Kevin McKeever

Kevin McKeever
Labour Party candidate for Northampton South
Election date 7 May 2015
Opponent(s)	David Mackintosh (Conservative) Sadik Chaudhury (Lib Dem) Rose Gibbins (UKIP) Julie Hawkins (Green) Kevin Willsher (Independent)
Incumbent	Brian Binley
Personal details
Born	8 October 1980 Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Education	Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne
Alma mater	Durham University (LLB) BPP Law School (BVC)
Occupation	Public relations executive

Kevin McKeever is a British public relations executive and Labour Party politician. He is currently a Partner at Portland Communications, a public relations agency set up by former Blair adviser Tim Allan. He contested the Harborough constituency in 2010 and the Northampton South constituency in 2015.

Early life and education

Born in Glasgow in 1980, McKeever was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne, an independent school. He subsequently studied Law at Durham University and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. He then went to study the Bar Vocational Course at BPP Law School, which he received in 2005. McKeever was later called to the bar at Inner Temple, allowing him to practice law in England and Wales as a barrister.^[1]

Public Relations Career

McKeever was employed as a Communications Consultant for property development firm Bee Bee Developments, which specialises in urban regeneration. He later worked as a Consultant at Luther Pendragon, where his clients included National Grid Property and Baxter Healthcare. He also led lobbying efforts for white-goods trade body the Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances. After leaving Luther Pendrgon, he was a senior associate at the London office of APCO.^[2] He later became a Director at Bell Pottinger Public Affairs where he was responsible for local government and planning issues.^[3] McKeever was subsequently hired by Portland Communications as a Partner.^[4] He was responsible for setting up Portland Local which focuses on local government, community and stakeholder campaigns.^[5]

2010 general election

McKeever was the Labour Party candidate at the 2010 general election, where he stood in the Harborough constituency, a seat which has been held by the Conservative Party since 1950. At the election, he came third having won 6,981 (12.7%) votes decreasing Labour's share of the vote by 6.6%. The seat was subsequently held by Conservative Edward Garnier, who later served as Solicitor General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2012.^[6]

2015 general election

On 24 November 2014,^[7] Kevin was selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Northampton South by the local party. While a traditionally Conservative seat, Labour has previously won the constituency in the 1997 and 2001 general elections, thus giving McKeever a better chance of winning than his effort in Harborough. With the retirement of incumbent MP Brian Binley, Northampton Borough Council leader David Mackintosh was selected to be the Conservative candidate, with restaurateur Sadik Chaudhury being selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate, retired civil servant Rose Gibbins fighting the seat for UKIP, nurse Julie Hawkins contesting the seat for the Green Party and local businessman Kevin Willsher standing as an independent. Throughout the campaign, McKeever made great use of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter in order to further his campaign as well as appearing in local hustings alongside the other candidates.^[8] Like the national campaign, the election was thought to be close between the two candidates, with pollster YouGov claiming the constituency to be 'too close to call'.^[9][10] Kevin eventually went on to win 12,370 votes (31.8), placing him a mere 3,793 votes behind winner David Mackintosh, increasing Labour's share of the vote by 6.4%.

Post-2015 general election political activity

After the general election, McKeever endorsed Andy Burnham^[11][12] and Caroline Flint^[13] in the Labour leadership and deputy leadership elections, respectively. On 18 February 2016, McKeever was selected as Labour's candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire,^[14][15] the elections for which will take place on 5 May 2016.

References

1. "Kevin McKeever - LinkedIn". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
2. "McKeever exits Luther Pendragon for APCO role". PR Week. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
3. Cartmell, Matt. "Portland launches local advisory arm with Kevin McKeever at helm". PR Week. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
4. "Bell Pottinger PA director Kevin McKeever has left the agency to join Portland...". Twitter/Public Affairs News. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
5. "Kevin McKeever - Portland". Portland Communications. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
6. "Election 2010 - Harborough". BBC News. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
7. "Kevin McKeever is Labour’s choice for Northampton South". East Midlands Labour Party. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
8. "General Election candidates face a grilling at Question Time style debate in Northampton". Northampton Chronicle and Echo. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
9. "UK Polling Report - Northampton South". UKPollingReport. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
10. "Kevin McKeever on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
11. Scoles, Steve. "Andy Burnham tells Northampton Labour supporters "I am unity candidate". Northampton Herald & Post. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
12. McKeever, Kevin. "McKeever: Burnham supports LGBT rights and has the experience to win". New Statesman. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
13. "A dozen defeated parliamentary candidates back Caroline Flint for deputy". New Statesman. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
14. Street, Vicky. "Kevin McKeever selected to be Labour’s candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire". East Midlands Labour. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
15. "Labour select candidate for upcoming Northants Police and Crime Commissioner elections". Northampton Herald & Post. Retrieved 21 February 2016.