Gary Kent

Gary Kent has been an active member of the Labour Party since 1976. He graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in International Relations with French, having also completed two sabbatical years as the Convenor of the Sussex Area of the NUS.

After spells as a trainee British Rail station manager in Doncaster, A Co-Op Education and Member Relations Manager in Croydon, a manager at a Homeless Men’s Centre in Chelsea, a full-timer for Independent Labour Publications in Leeds, and a sociology lecturer in Harrogate, he became a parliamentary staffer in 1987 and remains there. During that time, he worked extensively for 20 years on Northern Ireland/Ireland issues with various peace groups and then for another 20 years as the founder and Director of Labour Friends of Iraq and Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Kurdistan Region in Iraq.

He is a regular columnist and currently writes a blog on foreign policy for Progressive Britain. He has travelled extensively to Europe, America, and the Middle East.