Andrew Gwynne
 Andrew Gwynne     | |
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| Born | Andrew John Gwynne 4 June 1974 Manchester, England |
| Alma mater | University of Salford |
| Children | 3 |
| Spouse | Allison Dennis |
| Member of | Home Affairs Select Committee, Labour Friends of Israel |
Former Chair of Labour Friends of Israel posted offensive comments on WhatsApp
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Andrew John Gwynne is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gorton and Denton, previously Denton and Reddish, from 2005 until his resignation in 2026. He was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention from 2024 until February 2025, when he was dismissed and had his Labour Party membership suspended because of offensive messages he had written on WhatsApp.
In January 2026, he stood down as an MP triggering the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election.
Contents
Parliamentary career
Gwynne was appointed as Shadow Minister without Portfolio by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in October 2016 and then became Campaigns and Elections Chair in February 2017 before being appointed as the new Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in June following the UK/2017 General Election.[1]
Following the 2017 general election, Gwynne retained his role as the Labour Party’s Co-National Campaign Coordinator, and was promoted to become Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, replacing Grahame Morris.
He was again re-elected in 2019 with a much reduced majority of 6,175, (50.06% share of the vote). Only 58.3% of the electorate turned out to vote in the Denton and Reddish constituency (ranked 53rd lowest turnout of 650 constituencies).[2] In 2020, one day after Sir Keir Starmer was elected as the new Labour leader, he resigned from his position as Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary.
Due to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, Gwynne's constituency of Denton and Reddish was abolished, and replaced with Gorton and Denton. At the UK/General election/2024, Gwynne was elected to Parliament as MP for Gorton and Denton with 50.8% of the vote and a majority of 13,413. After the election, Gwynne was named as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention in the Department of Health and Social Care.
Dismissal and suspension
On 8 February 2025, Gwynne was dismissed from the government as health minister and suspended from the Labour Party for offensive comments he had posted in a WhatsApp group used by Manchester Labour politicians.
Resignation
Gwynne announced his resignation on the grounds of ill health on 22 January 2026. The next day, he was made Crown Steward of the Manor of Northstead by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a traditional way for MPs to resign. In his resignation statement he published medical advice from his GP that led to his resignation. The resultant 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election is be held on 26 February 2026.[3]
Affiliations
He is a member (and former Chair) of Labour Friends of Israel, of Unite Trade Union, the Co-operative Party and the Christian Socialist Movement.[4]
References
This page imported content from Wikipedia on 22 August 2017.Wikipedia is not affiliated with Wikispooks. Original page source here
