Representing the views of the people of Stafford for the past 13 years as a Member of Parliament, David Kidney has been instrumental in regenerating and developing the area.
He succeeded in procuring £5 million of regeneration funding for Stafford Borough, RAF Stafford became MOD Stafford and has been reinvigorated due to his lobbying, and his green credentials saw him appointed as Minister for Climate Change.
“I think my choice of career involved me helping people solve problems and the same comes from standing as a councillor, as well as a Member of Parliament,” David said.
Prior to embarking on his political career, David studied Law at Bristol University. In 1977 he started as a trainee solicitor in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, before moving to the firm’s Stafford branch as a fully employed member of staff. By 1984 he had been made partner.
Shortly afterwards he took his first step into politics, when he was elected as a councillor for the Manor Ward of Stafford Borough Council, a post he held for over a decade.
“I was chair of the Housing Services Committee for four years,” he said, “we oversaw two major housing developments, building hundreds of new homes in Highfields and Doxey.”
Politics beckoned as a full time career and in 1992 David decided to stand as MP for Stafford.
He said: “I first stood for MP in ‘92 and I came second. Five years later, in ‘97, I stood again, against the current Prime Minister, David Cameron. We knew it was a very close race and it was a very exciting time. It was a delight to win.”
During his 13 years in post, David was a member of the Treasury Select Committee and the Modernisation Committee, he was a ministerial aide in the Environment Team, and became Junior Minister with the Department of Energy and Climate Change. As a backbencher he chaired the All-party group for looked after children, became a Fellow of the Industry and Parliament Trust after completing a fellowship with international re-insurer Swiss Re, and chaired the F40 Group campaigning for fairer funding for schools.
Not content with raising issues in Parliament, David initiated various policy changes in Stafford and Staffordshire, many of them in collaboration with Staffordshire University. For example, with David, the University has jointly hosted conferences on the future of social care and green skills.
In 2010 he began work as Head of Policy for the Chartered Institute of Environment Health (CIEH) before later becoming Chief Executive of the UK Public Health Register presents.
The Award of Honorary Doctor of Staffordshire University is bestowed upon David for his contribution to national and local environmental issues, his dedication to health and social care, and his commitment to supporting Staffordshire University with its widening participation agenda.