Haleh Afshar, Professor of Politics and Women's Studies at York University summarises Kinnock's importance:

"What's wonderful about Glenys is that she is not young, she is a grandmother, and she waited for her time and she has matured very well. And we can see from her that we don't need to be born politicians, we don't need to suddenly be sparked off in our teens, we actually can have several lives. We can actually be good mothers and grandmothers and then come to politics - what is important is to have the commitment and to have a vision."