Kevin Denis Brennan, Baron Brennan of Canton (born 16 October 1959), is a Welsh politician. A member of the Labour Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff West from 2001 to 2024. He served as a minister of state at both the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families from 2009 to 2010.
Brennan held several junior ministerial offices from 2006 to 2009 at the Treasury, the Cabinet Office and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. In opposition, he served in various shadow ministerial positions from 2010 to 2020. He was Shadow Minister for Victims and Sentencing from September 2023 until his retirement from frontline politics at the 2024 general election. Brennan was subsequently appointed to the House of Lords in 2025.
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Early life and career
Brennan was born in Cwmbran, South Wales, the son of a steelworker and a school dinner lady. He was educated at St Alban's RC High School in Pontypool and Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating with a degree in Philosophy, politics and economics in 1982. Brennan was elected President of the Oxford Union in the same year with support from William Hague, who preferred Brennan's candidacy over those from the left of the Conservative faction in the Union. Following graduation, he returned to Wales to study at the University College of Wales, Cardiff, where he qualified as a teacher with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in history in 1985. He finished his education with a master's degree in Education Management at the University of Glamorgan (now the University of South Wales) in 1992.
In 1982, Brennan joined the Cwmbran Community Press as a journalist. He joined the National Union of Teachers in 1984 before becoming a teacher at Radyr Comprehensive School in 1985. He became the Head of the Economics Department before leaving in 1994. Between 1991 and 2001, Brennan was a member of Cardiff Council representing the ward of Canton, Cardiff. During this time he served as Chair of the Finance Committee, Chair of the Economic Scrutiny Committee and Vice-Chair of Economic Development.
Parliamentary career
House of Commons
Following Rhodri Morgan's decision to step down as the Member of Parliament for Cardiff West in order to concentrate on being the First Minister of Wales, Brennan was selected as the Labour candidate for the constituency and became the MP for Cardiff West at the 2001 general election. He won with a majority of 11,321 votes, (33.3%).
In July 2002, Brennan appeared in the House of Commons without a tie and called for Westminster to have "dress down" Thursdays, stating that Billy Bragg had complained Parliamentarians gave a "besuited image that's male, pale and stale". It provoked jeers from some Conservative MPs. Michael Fabricant expressed concern about Brennan not wearing a tie and made a point of order to the Speaker, Michael Martin, who agreed with Fabricant. Brennan was forced to leave the chamber to retrieve a tie from his office.
Brennan was re-elected as the MP for Cardiff West at the 2005 general election with a reduced majority of 8,167 (23.6%). This included a −4.8% swing from Brennan to the Conservative Party candidate. Following the general election, he was promoted to Tony Blair's government as an Assistant Government Whip.
In June 2007, Blair's successor Gordon Brown appointed Brennan as Parliamentary under-secretary of state for Children, Young People and Families in the new Department for Children, Schools and Families, replacing Parmjit Dhanda. Brennan was replaced in this role by Lady Morgan following the government reshuffle in October 2008. He was moved to Minister for the Third Sector at the Cabinet Office before being promoted in 2009, becoming the Minister of State for Further Education, Skills, Apprenticeships and Consumer Affairs, with responsibilities in both the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Following the 2010 General Election, he continued this role in a Shadow Ministerial capacity before Ed Miliband's decision to appoint Brennan to the position of Shadow Minister for Schools.
At the 2010 general election, Brennan was again re-elected as the MP for Cardiff West with a reduced majority of 4,750 votes.
In 2010, Brennan became the first MP to win the British Computer Society's (BCS) Social Media MP of the year award, beating Nick Clegg and Jeremy Corbyn, who both finished as runners-up.
House of Lords
In late 2024, Brennan was nominated for a Labour Party life peerage by Prime Minister Keir Starmer. He was created Baron Brennan of Canton, of Canton in the City of Cardiff, on 24 January 2025, and was introduced to the House of Lords on 4 February.
Personal life
Brennan has been married to Amy Lynn Wack since 1988; the couple have one daughter. Brennan supports Cardiff City Football Club and the Cardiff Blues rugby team. He is also a member of a parliamentary rock band MP4 with fellow politicians Ian Cawsey, Pete Wishart and Greg Knight. They have helped to raise over £1 million for charity as well as releasing an album and an EP. They were the house band on the television show Unspun with Matt Forde. He released his first solo album in 2021, a folk album titled The Clown and the Cigarette Girl, which featured Glen Matlock on bass.
Friends of Jo Cox
In 2016, following the murder of Jo Cox, the MP for Batley and Spen, Brennan put together the 'Friends of Jo Cox' to record a charity single to raise money for the Jo Cox Foundation which had been set up in her memory. The Friends of Jo Cox included the parliamentary rock band MP4, the House of Commons choir, MPs from other parties and a group of musicians including David Gray, KT Tunstall, Ricky Wilson and Steve Harley. The song was a cover of The Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want", with the Rolling Stones waiving their royalties for the Jo Cox Foundation. The single made the iTunes Top 10, and narrowly missed out on the top 100 UK Singles chart before Christmas Day. The single raised more than £35,000.