The eleventh of fourteen children born to an Irish Catholic family on Merseyside, Kilfoyle was educated by the Irish Christian Brothers at St. Edward's College in Liverpool; his father died when he was 10 years old. Obtaining 4 A-levels he went to the University of Durham, but left after a year becoming a labourer for five years. He qualified as a teacher at Christ's College in Liverpool. From 1975–1985, he worked as a teacher. From 1986–1991, he was North West Regional Organiser for the Labour Party, often involved in dealing with the entryist tactics of the Militant group.
Parliamentary career
Kilfoyle became the Labour Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton by retaining the seat in a by-election in 1991after the death of the incumbent Eric Heffer. In 1994, he supported Tony Blair's campaign for the Labour Party leadership. When Labour returned to government in 1997, Kilfoyle was initially appointed to a role within the Cabinet Office, with a licence to speak out in the media on the Government's behalf, and was later appointed a junior minister in the Ministry of Defence. In 2000 he resigned, asserting that the Blair Government was failing to pay enough attention to Labour's heartlands. He then became a vocal backbench critic of the Government for the remainder of his period in parliament. On 18 March 2003, Kilfoyle wrote the amendment against war in Iraq and moved the amendment in the debate in the House of Commons. Despite a large rebellion, the combined Government and official Opposition vote sanctioned war. In 2005, Kilfoyle allegedly defied the Official Secrets Act when he was said to have passed on information supposedly detailing then U.S. President George W. Bush's plan to bomb an Arabic TV station. He spoke against government plans to replace the Trident nuclear missile in the debate on 14 March 2007. In 2008, Kilfoyle declared that there should be a Labour Party leadership challenge. On 23 February 2010, Kilfoyle announced that he would stand down at the 2010 General Election. In the 2012 England and Wales Police and Crime Commissioner elections, he stood in the Labour nomination race to represent Merseyside Police; he was defeated for nomination by another former MP Jane Kennedy. In July 2014, he broke with official party policy to come out in support of Scottish independence and the SNP.
