Meet the newest Labour MPs
The number of Labour MPs in the UK increased by two overnight. Keir Starmer’s party won the formerly safe Tory seats of Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire in a pair of sensational victories.
Sarah Edwards is the newly elected Labour MP for Tamworth. She enters parliament off the back of a stunning by-election victory in which she overturned a 19,000 Tory majority.
Born in Birmingham, Edwards has worked in a range of roles in the public and third sector. She was previously an NHS governor and has worked for Unite the Union and the international development charity Oxford.
She attributes her victory in part to what she says is Labour’s ‘positive vision’. Following her election, she said: “I think one of the things we can take is a lot of comfort from the fact that people have seen that Labour are offering a positive vision, that they want a fresh start and they are not seeing that the Conservatives have anything to offer.”
In Mid Bedfordshire, Alistair Strathern was the winning Labour candidate. Strathern is a former teacher who has worked at the Bank of England on climate policy. He grew up in Bedfordshire and has also served as a councillor in Waltham Forest.
Strathern said that the people of Mid Bedfordshire had been ‘taken for granted’ by the Tories. He said after his election: “Tonight, residents across Mid Bedfordshire have made history. After decades of being taken for granted, feeling left behind, being underrepresented, they made a decision it was time for a change. Nowhere is off limits for this Labour party and tonight’s result proves it.”
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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