Keith Hill (politician)

Education and early career

Hill was educated at City Boys' Grammar School in Leicester, from where he won a scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He completed a Diploma in Education at University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.

He was then a politics lecturer, firstly in the University of Leicester and at the University of Strathclyde from 1969–1973. He worked as a research officer for the Labour Party's International Department from 1974–1976 before becoming a political officer for the National Union of Railwaymen, subsequently amalgamated into the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT). In the 1979 general election he stood unsuccessfully as Labour Candidate in Blaby.

Political career

In the 1992 election, Hill outperformed Labour's national performance by being the first Labour MP elected for the Streatham constituency. He defeated the incumbent Conservative MP Sir William Shelton by a convincing margin. This partly reflected changing demographics in the constituency, which includes a large swathe of Brixton.

Following his election as an MP, he served on the Select Committee for Transport from 1992 to 1997. His first Government appointment was as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Hilary Armstrong in 1997. He became an Assistant Government Whip from 1998 to 1999.

Keith Hill's ministerial career started when he was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary for Transport (as well as Minister for London) at the then Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) in 1999. During his time at DETR, he was responsible for local transport and transport in London.

As Minister for London, Keith Hill was closely involved in preparing the way for London mayoral elections. This was a task that he took to with clear relish – regional television viewers saw Mr Hill doing a rap in the middle of Trafalgar Square with a baseball hat on back to front to try to encourage young Londoners to vote in the elections.

In the ministerial appointments following the 2001 election, Keith Hill moved to the position of Deputy Chief Whip. In a 13 June 2003 reshuffle, Hill was promoted to Minister of State rank and joined the Privy Council. He served as Minister for Housing and Planning at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister until the 2005 General Election. During this period he had lead responsibility for housing, planning, the Thames Gateway, urban policy and liveability issues, and was Minister for London and the Dome. In the reshuffle following the 2005 general election, Keith Hill was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Rt Hon. Tony Blair MP. He returned to the backbenches on Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister in June 2007.

Since leaving parliament he has become the chair of Lambeth Living, an ALMO (arm's length management organisation) which administers most of Lambeth Council's social housing stock.

In 2012 Keith Hill was appointed as the independent regulator for the Association of Residential Managing Agent's (ARMA) new self-regulatory regime. ARMA is a trade association for firms that manage private residential leasehold blocks of flats in England & Wales and Hill's appointment marks the first time that managing agents have been subject to independent regulation.

Keith Hill was confirmed by Hammersmith & Fulham Council in February 2015 as Chair of the Residents' Commission on Council Housing. The Commission is working with council house tenants and leaseholders to explore how they can be given more control and safeguards over their homes, rents and service charges. The Residents’ Housing Commission is in the midst of assessing the wide range of options available to give residents more control over their homes. The Commission is made up of the independent chair, six tenants, three leaseholders and three independent experts. It had held 9 public hearings taking evidence from leading independent housing experts, senior members of the housing department, residents and members of the public. It is expected that the Commission will report its recommendation in the Autumn 2015.

Personal life

Now married, Hill once shared a flat with actor/comedian Eddie Izzard.

Other

Hill was described by Routledge's Almanac of British Politics as "One of the government's insufficiently sung heroes".