26 Facts About Cheryl Kernot

Cheryl Zena Kernot is an Australian politician, academic, and political activist.

Cheryl Kernot was a member of the Australian Senate representing Queensland for the Australian Democrats from 1990 to 1997, and the fifth leader of the Australian Democrats from 1993 to 1997.

Cheryl Kernot grew up working class and her father worked two jobs to provide for the family.

Cheryl Kernot's maternal grandfather was an organiser for the Australian Labor Party in the Hunter Valley coalfields.

Cheryl Kernot attended East Maitland Primary School and Maitland Girls' High School.

Cheryl Kernot received a Commonwealth scholarship to attend the University of Sydney, where she studied government.

Cheryl Kernot received a teaching diploma from the University of Newcastle and spent twelve years as a political activist while working as a school teacher in New South Wales and Queensland.

Cheryl Kernot worked as an electorate officer and freelance radio producer.

In 1984, Cheryl Kernot was elected Queensland Secretary of the Australian Democrats, and later in the year, Queensland State President, a position she held until 1999.

Cheryl Kernot served as Deputy National President of the party between 1988 until her election to the Senate in 1990.

Cheryl Kernot was first elected as a Senator for Queensland at the 1990 election, taking over from the retiring Democrats Senator Michael Macklin.

Cheryl Kernot finally achieved her ambition to become the Democrats' Senate leader after the 1993 election.

On 15 October 1997, Cheryl Kernot abruptly moved to the Australian Labor Party, resigning her Senate seat and leaving the leadership of the Democrats to her deputy, Meg Lees, in what was described by journalist Monica Attard as a "defection [that] took the country by storm".

Cheryl Kernot stated that she was "well aware of the political risks in this course of action".

Cheryl Kernot narrowly won the outer metropolitan Brisbane seat of Dickson for Labor at the 1998 election, before losing it at the 2001 election to the Liberal Party candidate Peter Dutton.

On 3 July 2002, in his regular weekly column in The Bulletin, political journalist Laurie Oakes criticised Cheryl Kernot for failing to mention an extramarital affair she had with Gareth Evans while she was leader of the Democrats.

Oakes claimed that the relationship began several years before Cheryl Kernot joined Labor, and ended in October 1999.

Cheryl Kernot made the claim based on leaked emails in his possession that proved Kernot had a five-year relationship with Evans.

Cheryl Kernot worked in the United Kingdom as Programme Director at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurs at the Said Business School at Oxford University and as the Director of Learning at the School for Social Entrepreneurs in London.

Cheryl Kernot is currently the Director of Social Business at the Centre for Social Impact, based at the University of New South Wales.

Cheryl Kernot has expressed support for Australia becoming a republic.

On 30 July 2010, Cheryl Kernot announced that she would run as a candidate for the Australian Senate representing New South Wales as an independent on a platform of "Change politics".

Cheryl Kernot was one of Australia's first fully qualified female cricket umpires.

Cheryl Kernot was patron of the Australian women's cricket team from 1994 to 2000.

Cheryl Kernot is on the founding committee of a UK charity which works to provide shelter and education for street children in Kampala, Uganda.

In 2014 Cheryl Kernot became the first patron of the Women in Prison Advocacy Network.