Who is Stephen Kinnock, the new Welsh secretary?

Detained by the Russians, married to a former Danish prime minister and the son of one of Andy Burnham's political heroes, Stephen Kinnock now has the top job in Gwydyr House on Whitehall.

The Labour MP for Aberafan Maesteg has taken over as Welsh secretary after being appointed to Burnham's cabinet.

Kinnock was born in 1970 in Tredegar, the former industrial town that was also the birthplace of his father, former Labour leader Neil Kinnock, and NHS founder Aneurin Bevan.

He comes from one of Labour's best-known political families.

Neil Kinnock led the party from 1983 to 1992, while his mother, Glenys Kinnock, died in 2023, was a member of the European Parliament, a government minister and a member of the House of Lords.

Burnham has credited Neil Kinnock with inspiring him to join the Labour Party in 1985.

Educated at a state school in west London, Stephen Kinnock went on to study modern languages at Cambridge University.

After working as a researcher at the European Parliament, Kinnock joined the British Council, the UK's organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.

He hit the headlines in 2008 while serving as director of its office in St Petersburg.

Amid a diplomatic row between the UK and Russia, Stephen Kinnock was detained and questioned for about an hour by Russia's FSB security service.

Russian authorities accused him of driving offences, including travelling the wrong way down a one-way street.

Then Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned the treatment of Kinnock and other British Council staff as "harassment" and "completely unacceptable".

Kinnock is married to Helle Thorning-Schmidt, who was Denmark's first female prime minister.

The couple met while studying in Belgium and have two children.

He was elected as MP for Aberavon in 2015, representing a constituency that includes the Tata steelworks at Port Talbot, and retained the seat following boundary changes in 2024 as MP for Aberafan and Maesteg with almost 50% of the votes.

During the Covid pandemic in 2020, South Wales Police urged Kinnock to comply with lockdown restrictions after he travelled to west London to celebrate his father's birthday.

The intervention came after he posted a photograph on social media showing a "socially distanced celebration" outside his parents' home.

Kinnock was appointed a junior health minister by Sir Keir Starmer after Labour's 2024 election victory.

His father later suggested the role had been a source of frustration because decisions affecting the NHS in England did not directly benefit constituents in south Wales.

Throughout his parliamentary career, Kinnock has been a prominent supporter of the steel industry, lobbying for government backing for Port Talbot and arguing for a managed transition to greener steel production.

As for his new job, his father, Neil Kinnock says: "He's multilingual. He will be using all that, I'm absolutely certain, to try to ensure that investment, opportunity is magnetised to Wales.

"He's not going to work miracles, obviously, but working with all those other people committed to Wales, I'm certain that they can put together an impressive programme."

Stephen Kinnock has described his appointment as the "privilege of my life".

As Welsh secretary, one of his biggest political challenges may be managing relations with Rhun ap Iorwerth's Plaid Cymru-led Welsh government.

The first minister has already called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to "turn his commitment to devolution into action" by handing Wales greater powers over areas including policing, justice, rail and the Crown Estate.

While Kinnock has promoted Wales' interests in Westminster, he has not been among those arguing for significant further devolution in those areas.

Kinnock's first day in the role was not entirely without incident.

On his way into Downing Street for his first cabinet meeting, he briefly delayed himself after joining the security queue used by journalists.

He still arrived at No 10 in time for the meeting.