26 Facts About Timothy Kirkhope

Timothy John Robert Kirkhope, Baron Kirkhope of Harrogate was born on 29 April 1945 and is a British lawyer and politician who previously served as Member of the European Parliament for Yorkshire and the Humber for the Conservative Party.

Timothy Kirkhope was the chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel's Europe grouping, the European Conservatives Spokesman on Justice and Home Affairs, and a member of the European Parliament's USDelegation.

Timothy Kirkhope was a senior partner in Newcastle law firm Wilkinson Marshall Clayton and Gibson until election to Parliament in 1987.

Timothy Kirkhope was very active in the Free Radio movement and a co-author of the Conservatives proposals for commercial radio in the late 1960s.

Timothy Kirkhope was then part of a consortium bidding for one of the first commercial radio licences when they became available.

Timothy Kirkhope has always had a strong interest in Hospital Broadcasting having been the chairman of Radio Tyneside for some years, and has maintained his links with that organisation.

Timothy Kirkhope was very active in charitable work for the Macmillan Cancer Relief organization in Newcastle and the Family Service Unit movement.

Timothy Kirkhope first stood for Parliament for Durham at the February 1974 General Election, but came second to the Labour incumbent Mark Hughes, although the voting swing in the constituency was surprisingly one of the biggest towards the Conservatives in the UK, at these "Miners" elections.

At the 1987 general election, Timothy Kirkhope followed Sir Keith Joseph as the Member of Parliament for Leeds North East.

Timothy Kirkhope was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to David Trippier at the Department of the Environment in 1989.

Timothy Kirkhope became a Government Assistant Whip in 1990, then a Lord Commissioner to the Treasury in 1992, and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in 1995 reporting on the business of the House of Commons directly to HM The Queen, whilst serving as whip.

In October 1995 Timothy Kirkhope received promotion to be Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office responsible for immigration, border controls, gambling and licensing policy, and horseracing, among other things.

Timothy Kirkhope was defeated at the 1997 general election, his constituency attracting some interest because its majority had placed it at the point where a Labour gain would indicate that that party was likely to win an overall majority, which it did.

Timothy Kirkhope then returned to legal practice and went into business.

Timothy Kirkhope was a non-executive director of the Bournemouth and West Hants Water Company for some years, and then more recently has been, and remains, a member on the board of a company pension trust.

Timothy Kirkhope served on the Culture, Media, Arts Education and Youth Committee between 1999 and 2002.

In spring 2003, Timothy Kirkhope was asked by the then Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin to look into the workings of the UK asylum system and to make proposals for future party policy.

The Timothy Kirkhope Commission worked for several months and produced a comprehensive report with 20 specific recommendations.

In December 2004, Timothy Kirkhope was elected Leader of the Conservative Delegation in the European Parliament.

Timothy Kirkhope was defeated in the Leadership election in November 2007 but was then re-elected in 2009.

Timothy Kirkhope was appointed deputy chairman of the ECR Group by Kaminski in return for his gesture.

Timothy Kirkhope stood again for the presidency after Kaminski stepped down 2 years later but was controversially defeated by Martin Callanan.

Timothy Kirkhope maintains his involvement with Classic Cars as an active member of the Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group.

Timothy Kirkhope holds a pilot's licence, collects classic cars, swims and plays tennis.

Timothy Kirkhope is married and has four grown up sons.

Lord Timothy Kirkhope became a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers in 2020 and Freeman of the City of London in 2021.