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Mike Kane

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Mike Kane
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Aviation, Maritime and Security
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 July 2024
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byThe Lord Davies of Gower
Member of Parliament
for Wythenshawe and Sale East
Incumbent
Assumed office
13 February 2014
Preceded byPaul Goggins
Majority14,610 (37.3%)
Member of Manchester City Council
for Northenden
In office
2 May 1991 – 1 May 2008
Preceded byAnne Carroll
Succeeded byMartin Eakins
Personal details
Born
Michael Joseph Patrick Kane

(1969-01-09) 9 January 1969 (age 55)
Wythenshawe, Manchester, England
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Sandra Bracegirdle
​
(m. 1996)​
Alma materManchester Metropolitan University (BA, PGCE)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • teacher
WebsiteOfficial website

Michael Joseph Patrick Kane (born 9 January 1969) is a British politician who has served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, Kane has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wythenshawe and Sale East since 2014.

Early life and career

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Michael Kane was born on 9 January 1969 in Wythenshawe. He was born to Joseph and Kathleen (née McGirl) Kane, both Irish immigrants who migrated separately to Manchester in 1955.[1]

He attended St Aidan's Primary School in Northern Moor, moving on to St Paul's RC High School in Newall Green before studying for his A Levels at Loreto College, Hulme, Manchester.[2] He graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a BA in Social Sciences in 1997 and a PGCE in 1999.[3]

After university, Kane was a primary school teacher at Springfield Primary School in Sale.[1][4]

Political career

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Kane joined the Labour Party at 18.[4] He has described himself as a "Blairite"[5]

In 1991 he was elected to Manchester City Council in Northenden ward, gaining his seat from the Conservatives (the sitting councillor stood as an Independent Conservative against her replacement, but Kane had more votes than both put together).[6] He was re-elected in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2004.[7] Kane was appointed Executive Member for Arts and Leisure in 2007.[8] When his was up for re-election in 2008, he was defeated by eight votes, losing to the Liberal Democrat candidate.[9]

Kane worked behind the scenes for several politicians, including as office manager for Jonathan Reynolds, MP for Stalybridge and Hyde. He was also a parliamentary assistant to Reynolds and James Purnell, the previous MP for Stalybridge and Hyde.[10] He worked for Tameside Council as a Senior Executive Assistant based in the council leader's office.[11]

In July 2013, Kane became the acting chief executive of Movement for Change, an organisation set up by David Miliband to run local political campaigns and train organisers.[12] Kane had backed David Miliband in the 2010 Labour leadership election.[13]

Parliamentary career

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On 24 January 2014, Kane was selected as the Labour candidate for the 2014 Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election.[14] He was elected as MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East with 55.3% of the vote and a majority of 8,960.[15]

At the 2015 general election, Kane was re-elected as MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East with a decreased vote share of 50.1% and a decreased majority of 10,569.[16][17] Whilst he did nominate Liz Kendall,[18] Kane then supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[19] In October 2016, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn appointed Kane to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Education with responsibility for Schools.[20]

In February 2017, he posed how education could be improved by making schools more democratic and accountable to parents - "to coin a phrase, we need to give them back some control". When it comes to the administration in education, he added "...we can’t have 24,000 schools run from the Department for Education...the schools commissioner regions are too large. Wilshaw [Sir Michael, the former Ofsted chief inspector] said that politicians should be involved in raising standards in schools. But how can they do that? They have no formal powers...". On the topic of local powers to help the issue, "The new mayors of Greater Manchester, Greater Merseyside, Birmingham, will have no input at all. If the regional schools commissioners came under their remit, then mayors would be directly accountable for helping to raise standards. I see that as a way forward".[5] When asked about his favourite education secretary, Kane bluntly said why it was David Blunkett: "He went through the system. He went to night school. He got the idea of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps with some support from the state – and he rebuilt schools that were falling down. When I started training, just as Labour came to power, a lot of my practice was holding a bucket under the rainwater coming in through the roof. By the end of that government … we’d rebuilt the school".[5]

Kane was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election, with an increased vote share of 62.2% and an increased majority of 14,944.[21] He was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 53.3% and a decreased majority of 10,396.[22]

Shadow minister for aviation and maritime

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From April 2020 to May 2024, Kane was shadow minister for aviation and maritime.[23] In October 2021, Kane proposed the "Amess Amendment" after the death of Sir David Amess, highlighting to parliament that "...Catholics believe that extreme unction helps guide the soul to God after death, so maybe we could come up with an Amess amendment so that no matter where it is, in a care home or at a crime scene, members, or anybody, can receive that sacrament.".[24] Formally, this amendment will ensure access for Catholic priests to administer the last rites, including at crime scenes.

In 2022, amidst P&O's controversial sacking of 800 workers, Kane affirmed his support for their "workforce reinstated and legal action taken against P&O", and in addition, for the practice of "fire and rehire" to be outlawed.[25] This practice involves an employer dismissing a worker and rehiring them on new, less-favourable terms and has seen major UK companies use this practice such as Tesco,[26] Weetabix[27] and British Airways.[28]

In November 2022, Kane stated that it is "not good enough" for tenants to "wait months for assessments and for repairs" when they ask housing providers for consideration. Furthermore, he believes in abolishing Section 21 with the intended effect of registering landlords and having "minimum standards being committed to law which would give councils stronger powers to act with rogue landlords".[29]

Minister of maritime, aviation and security

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At the 2024 general election, Kane was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 52.6% and an increased majority of 14,610.[30]

On 11 July 2024, Kane was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport at the Department for Transport with responsibility as minister for maritime, aviation and security.[31][32][23][33]

Personal life

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Kane married Sandra Bracegirdle in 1996,[34] who he later served alongside on Manchester City Council.[2] He is a Roman Catholic.[35]

He plays a number of wind instruments including the uilleann pipes, bagpipes and the flute.[36] He is a Manchester City season ticket holder.[37] His favourite subject to teach was creative writing.[5] When asked about his favourite book, he replied "War of the Worlds" and "The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists".[5]

Affiliations

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Kane is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[38]

References

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  1. ^ a b Hennessy, Mark (10 February 2014). "Son of Irish immigrants looks set to take seat for Labour". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  2. ^ a b Williams, Jennifer (14 February 2014). "Labour win Wythenshawe and Sale East by-election". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  3. ^ "KANE, Michael Joseph Patrick". Who's Who. Vol. 2017 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ a b Perraudin, Frances (10 February 2014). "Wythenshawe and Sale East byelection: what to expect on Thursday". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Profile: Mike Kane, MP, Shadow schools minister". schoolsweek.co.uk. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  6. ^ Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, "Local Elections Handbook 1991", Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, 1991, p. 29.
  7. ^ Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, "Local Elections Handbook 2004", Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, 2004, p. 52.
  8. ^ "Culture News". Manchester City Council. July–August 2007. p. 1.
  9. ^ Colin Rallings, Michael Thrasher, "Local Elections Handbook 2008", Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, 2008, p. 44.
  10. ^ "Kane makes local connections count as he cruises to victory". Labor uncut. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  11. ^ Billington, Liam. "Tameside's jobs for the boys". The TaxPayers' Alliance. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  12. ^ Christopher Hope, Matthew Holehouse (13 February 2014). "David Miliband organisation run by Labour's candidate in Wythenshawe and Sale East fined over unlawful donations". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  13. ^ Hope, Christopher (5 February 2014). "Labour's Wythenshawe and Sale East candidate wanted David Miliband to be leader". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  14. ^ Williams, Jennifer (24 January 2014). "Labour choose ex-councillor Michael Kane to defend the late Paul Goggins' Wythenshawe and Sale East seat in by-election". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  15. ^ Wintour, Patrick (14 February 2014). "Labour wins Wythenshawe and Sale East byelection with Ukip second". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Wythenshawe & Sale East". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Liz Kendall – The Labour Party". 21 July 2015. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  20. ^ "Meet Labour's new education team". 10 October 2016.
  21. ^ "Wythenshawe and Sale East - Statement of Persons Nominated & Notice of Poll". manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Retrieved 19 May 2017. Pdf.
  22. ^ "Blackley & Broughton Parliamentary constituency". manchester.gov.uk. Manchester City Council. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  23. ^ a b "DfT appointments: who are the new UK transport ministers?". Railway Technology. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  24. ^ "Right to give last rites should become law after Amess death, MP says". The Guardian. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  25. ^ "P&O workforce reinstated and legal action taken against P&O Gvt contracts suspended Fire and rehire outlawed Workers rights strengthened This must be a line in the sand. Solidarity with all affected". Twitter. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  26. ^ "Employment Law Update: Employer Restrained from 'Firing and Rehiring', Dismissal for Raising Frivolous Grievances, and Employment Status of Taxi Driver". JD Supra. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  27. ^ "How the Weetabix Workers Are Fighting 'Fire and Rehire'". tribunemag.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  28. ^ "BA begins to carry out its 'fire and rehire' threat to jobs". The Guardian. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  29. ^ Britton, Paul; Lythgoe, George (16 November 2022). "Greater Manchester MPs slam social housing system after Awaab Ishak death". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  30. ^ "Wythenshawe and Sale East results". Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  31. ^ "New UK shipping minister arrives with 'much to be done' after general election landslide". Tradewinds. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  32. ^ "New UK government appoints maritime minister". Riviera Maritime. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: July 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  34. ^ "Ringing World BellBoard". bb.ringingworld.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  35. ^ Coughlan, Sean (16 September 2017). "Can Labour get back in touch with Catholic voters?". BBC News. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  36. ^ Williams, Jennifer (12 February 2014). "Hidden Agenda: Prospective MP Mike Kane flies the Red Flag, on his flute". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  37. ^ "Mike Kane - Trafford Labour Party". Trafford Labour. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  38. ^ "LFI Parliamentary Supporters". Labour Friends of Israel. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for
Wythenshawe and Sale East
2014–present 		Incumbent
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