Thursday 25 June 2026
07:45
Hay Festival Global & Baroness Helena Kennedy KC
In collaboration with Hay Festival Global, we will be joined by Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, a member of the House of Lords and one of the country’s most distinguished lawyers and accomplished legal and social reformers.
Baroness Kennedy was born and brought up in Glasgow, she is a member of the Bar, a King’s Counsel, a Bencher of Gray’s Inn and an Honorary Writer to the Signet. She is the recipient of 42 Honorary Degrees from various institutions around the world, in recognition of her work on women, human rights, and widening access to higher education. Over the last thirty years Baroness Kennedy has been Chancellor of Oxford Brooke’s University, Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, President of the School of Oriental and African Studies and Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford. She was also a founder of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at Oxford in 2018. Baroness Kennedy has spent her professional life-giving voice to those who have least power within the system, championing civil liberties and promoting human rights.
Baroness Kennedy was born and brought up in Glasgow, she is a member of the Bar, a King’s Counsel, a Bencher of Gray’s Inn and an Honorary Writer to the Signet. She is the recipient of 42 Honorary Degrees from various institutions around the world, in recognition of her work on women, human rights, and widening access to higher education. Over the last thirty years Baroness Kennedy has been Chancellor of Oxford Brooke’s University, Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, President of the School of Oriental and African Studies and Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford. She was also a founder of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at Oxford in 2018. Baroness Kennedy has spent her professional life-giving voice to those who have least power within the system, championing civil liberties and promoting human rights.