Kevin McKeever

Kevin McKeever
Personal details
Born	(1980-10-08) 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 a Partner at Portland Communications, a public relations agency. As a Labour Party candidate he stood unsuccessfully in the Harborough constituency in 2010 and in Northampton South in 2015 and for the Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire election in 2016.

Early life

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, graduating 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 practise law in England and Wales as a barrister.^[1]

Career

Public relations

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 Pendragon, 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 as a Partner by Portland Communications, a PR firm set up by former Tony Blair adviser Tim Allan.^[4] He was responsible for setting up Portland Local which focuses on local government, community and stakeholder campaigns.^[5]

Politics

Candidacy in 2010 and 2015 general elections

McKeever was the Labour candidate at the 2010 general election in Harborough, a constituency which has been held by the Conservative Party since 1950 and where the Liberal Democrats were the main challenger. At the election, he came third with 6,981 (12.7%) votes, decreasing Labour's share of the vote by 6.6%.^[6]

On 24 November 2014,^[7] McKeever was selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Northampton South. While a traditionally Conservative seat, Labour had won the constituency in the 1997 and 2001 general elections and the sitting MP Brian Binley was not standing again, thus giving McKeever a better chance of winning than in Harborough. The election was thought to be close between the Labour and Conservative candidates, with pollster YouGov claiming the constituency to be 'too close to call'.^[8] McKeever received 12,370 votes (31.8%) but, despite increasing Labour's share of the vote by 6.4%, was 3,793 votes behind the Conservative, Northampton Borough Council leader David Mackintosh.

Candidacy for Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire 2016

On 18 February 2016, McKeever was selected as the Labour candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner for Northamptonshire.^[9][10] In the election on 5 May 2016, McKeever lost to the Conservative candidate Stephen Mold.^[11]

Death threat

In July 2016, after allegations that Portland Communications was involved in an attempt to oust Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, he received an alleged death threat telling him he should "prepare to be coxed" – an apparent reference to the killing of Jo Cox.^[12]

References