Editing Ruth Kelly (section)

==Background==
Kelly was born in [[Limavady]], [[County Londonderry]], [[Northern Ireland]]. Her mother was a teacher and her father ran a pharmacy. Her maternal grandfather had been the teacher of a village school in [[Altishane]], County Tyrone. She lived briefly in the [[Republic of Ireland]] before moving to England, where she was educated at a number of private schools. She initially attended Edgarley Hall, the [[Preparatory school (UK)|preparatory school]] for [[Millfield School]]. She was then educated at the independent [[Sutton High School (London)|Sutton High School]], run by the [[Girls' Day School Trust]] (GDST) After being moved up a year and sitting [[General Certificate of Education|O-levels]] at Sutton High School at the age of 15, she decided to move back to [[Ireland]] to look after her ill grandmother. Her grandmother died after six weeks, but Kelly stayed for a year, living with her aunt and taking A-level French. She returned to England on winning a scholarship to the [[sixth-form]] of [[Westminster School]].<ref>{{cite news | date = 24 September 2005 | title = Interview with, and bioprofile of, Ruth Kelly | url = http://politics.guardian.co.uk/interviews/story/0,,1575948,00.html | work = The Guardian | access-date = 16 October 2024 | location = London | first = Decca | last = Aitkenhead | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060627234824/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/interviews/story/0,,1575948,00.html | archive-date = 27 June 2006 | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name=oneill /> 

Kelly then enrolled at [[The Queen's College, Oxford]], where she studied [[Philosophy, Politics and Economics]] in 1986 (having originally won a place to study medicine), graduating in 1989. She then undertook postgraduate study at the [[London School of Economics]], where she was awarded a [[MSc]] degree in economics in 1992.<ref name=oneill /> 

Kelly taught at [[University of Navarra]], after she joined the Labour Party in 1990, becoming a member of the party's [[Bethnal Green and Stepney]] [[Constituency Labour Party|constituency party]].{{cn|date=October 2024}}

She was an economics writer for ''[[The Guardian]]'' from 1990, before becoming deputy head of the [[Inflation]] Report Division of the [[Bank of England]] in 1994. 

She married Derek John Gadd, a local government officer, in 1996, and they have four children.<ref name=oneill>{{cite news | date = 17 December 2004 | title = Ruth Kelly – a private woman who puts faith into her work | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1406347,00.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20110622100439/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1406347,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 22 June 2011 | work = The Times | access-date = 3 June 2006 | location=London | first1=Sean | last1=O'Neill | first2=Laura | last2=Peek | first3=Tony | last3=Halpin}}</ref>

===Family history===
Kelly's maternal grandfather, Philip Murphy, served as an officer in the [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) during the [[Irish War of Independence]] (1919–1921). In 1922 he was [[interned]] by the [[Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland|Government of Northern Ireland]]. Murphy's detention file refers to him as 'quartermaster of the West [[Fermanagh]] IRA Battalion'. He went on [[hunger strike]] to protest at his detention. He was released unconditionally in June 1924, when internment ended.<ref>{{cite news | date = 23 January 2006 | title = Ruth Kelly's grandfather was interned IRA quartermaster| url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,17129-2005823,00.html| work = The Times | access-date = 22 November 2006 | location=London | first=David | last=Sharrock}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Her paternal grandfather Francis (Frank) Kelly joined the [[Connaught Rangers]] and served in France during the [[First World War]]. After the war, he returned to [[County Tyrone]] and took up a post of School Master in Altishane. His first wife died leaving a young family of six. He remarried Mary Agnes and had another six children. One of them James (Seamus) was Ruth's father.

===Religion===
Kelly is a practising [[Roman Catholic]], a member of the [[Opus Dei]],<ref>[http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=73512005 Opus Dei Catholic sect confirms Kelly is a member] ''[[The Scotsman]]'', 21 January 2005.</ref><ref>Nick Assinder: [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6290801.stm Blair faces new Church protest], ''BBC News'', 23 January 2007.</ref><ref>Matthew Tempest: [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1996785,00.html No 10 mulls Catholic opt-out from gay rights law] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125084532/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1996785,00.html |date=25 January 2007 }}, "The Guardian", 23 January 2007.</ref> and a regular attender at their meetings and events.<ref>Steve Bloomfield: [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article447789.ece Opus Dei: Jack Valero speaks for an evil sect, says 'The Da Vinci Code'] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060911191729/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article447789.ece |date=11 September 2006 }}, ''The Independent'', 10 May 2006.</ref><ref name=stem>{{cite news | date=22 December 2004 | title=Scientists are alarmed by Ruth Kelly's strict beliefs | url=http://timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1411905,00.html | work=The Times | access-date=22 November 2006 | location=London | first1=Ruth | last1=Gledhill | first2=Tony | last2=Halpin | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060108182007/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1411905,00.html | archive-date=8 January 2006 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Her brother, Ronan Kelly, is also a member of the group.<ref>{{cite web | date = 1 February 2005 | title = Education: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid | url = http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=9232 | publisher = Socialist Review | access-date = 10 January 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060823064518/http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=9232 | archive-date = 23 August 2006 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> Previously, uncertainty existed over Kelly's membership; she declined to say whether or not she was a member, saying only that she had received 'spiritual support' from the organisation.<ref>George Jones: [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/24/nkelly24.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/24/ixhome.html Opus Dei will not limit me, says Kelly] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205080450/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F01%2F24%2Fnkelly24.xml&sSheet=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F01%2F24%2Fixhome.html |date=5 February 2007 }}, ''Telegraph.co.uk'', 24 January 2005.</ref>
Kelly is Vice President of the [[Catholic Union of Great Britain]].