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Andrew Gwynne

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Andrew Gwynne
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention
In office
9 July 2024 – 8 February 2025
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byAndrea Leadsom
Succeeded byVacant
Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
In office
14 June 2017 – 6 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byRoberta Blackman-Woods
Succeeded bySteve Reed
Labour Party Co-National Campaign Coordinator
In office
10 February 2017 – 5 April 2020
Serving with Ian Lavery
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byJon Trickett
Succeeded byAngela Rayner
Shadow Minister without Portfolio
In office
7 October 2016 – 14 June 2017
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byJonathan Ashworth
Succeeded byIan Lavery
Member of Parliament
for Gorton and Denton
Denton and Reddish (2005–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded byAndrew Bennett
Majority13,413 (36.7%)
Personal details
Born
Andrew John Gwynne

(1974-06-04) 4 June 1974 (age 50)
Manchester, England
Political partyLabour and Co-operative (suspended)
Spouse
Allison Dennis
​
(m. 2003)​
Children3
Alma materTameside College
Wrexham Glyndŵr University
University of Salford
WebsiteOfficial website
Other offices
  • 2023-2024: Shadow Minister for Social Care
  • 2021-2023, 2015-2016: Shadow Minister for Public Health
  • 2011–2015: Shadow Minister for Health
  • 2010–2011: Shadow Minister for Transport
  • 1996–2008: Member of Tameside Council

Andrew John Gwynne (born 4 June 1974) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Gorton and Denton, previously Denton and Reddish, since 2005. He served as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention from 2024 until February 2025, when he was dismissed and had his Labour membership suspended because of offensive messages he had written on WhatsApp.[1]

Gwynne served in the shadow cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow Minister without Portfolio from 2016 to 2017. He was Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Labour Party Co-National Campaign Coordinator from 2017 to 2020.

In 2023, he became the President of Friends of Real Lancashire, a group dedicated to promoting and preserving the heritage and identity of the historic county of Lancashire, following the death of the group's founder.[2] He is the son of the late broadcaster and pundit John Gwynne.

Early life and education

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Andrew Gwynne was born on 4 June 1974 in Manchester. He was educated at Egerton Park Community High School (now called Denton Community College) in Denton, Tameside College of Technology in Ashton-under-Lyne, North East Wales Institute of Higher Education in Wrexham from 1992 to 1995 and the University of Salford from 1995 to 1998, earning a BA in Politics and Contemporary History.[3]

Political career

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At the age of 21, Gwynne became England's youngest councillor when on 2 May 1996 he was elected to Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, representing the Denton West Ward for the Labour Party. He was re-elected in 2000 and 2004 when he topped the poll in an "all out" election resulting from boundary changes in the borough. From 1998 to 2001 he chaired the Denton and Audenshaw District Assembly, and during 2003–04 he chaired the Resources and Community Services Scrutiny Panel.

Parliamentary career

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1st term (2005–2010)

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At the 2005 general election, Gwynne was elected to Parliament as Labour MP for Denton and Reddish with 57.4% of the vote and a majority of 13,498.[4]

He was appointed to the House of Commons Procedure Committee in June 2005 and, on 10 November 2005, was promoted to become a Parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Patricia Scotland, as Minister of State for Criminal Justice and Offender Management at the Home Office.

Between July 2007 and June 2009, he served as the Parliamentary private secretary to the Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Jacqui Smith MP.

In June 2009, he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, then Ed Balls.

2nd term (2010–2015)

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At the 2010 general election, Gwynne was re-elected as MP for Denton and Reddish with a decreased vote share of 51% and a decreased majority of 9,831.[5][6]

In October 2010 Gwynne became a Shadow Transport Minister with responsibility for passenger transport. In the Opposition front bench reshuffle of October 2011 he was appointed to the Shadow Health team by Ed Miliband.

3rd term (2015–2017)

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At the 2015 general election, Gwynne was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 50.8% and an increased majority of 10,511.[7][8]

Gwynne took a leading role in November 2015 in organising Labour in the Oldham West and Royton by-election, which took place as a result of the death of Michael Meacher.[9] Gwynne said he hoped that "I can do the memory of Michael Meacher proud by helping to return a Labour MP for the seat".[10] The Labour candidate Jim McMahon held the seat with a 10,000-plus majority and increased the party's share of the vote.[11]

Gwynne is involved in the campaign for justice for the victims and families of the tainted blood scandal, reaffirming his commitment to the cause on World AIDS Day on 2 December 2016.[12]

Also in December 2016, Gwynne was invited to give a keynote speech on ways to tackle vulture funds and the damage they cause to developing nations at the 135th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva.[13]

In January 2017 Gwynne was appointed to lead Labour's campaign for the Copeland by-election following the resignation of Jamie Reed.[14] Gwynne focused the campaign on Conservatives plans to cut services at West Cumberland Hospital and to move some hospital facilities, including maternity services, to Carlisle, 80 miles away.[15]

In February 2017 Gwynne was appointed as the Labour Party's Co-National Campaign Coordinator while retaining some of his Cabinet Office duties and his role as a spokesperson. He shared this post with Ian Lavery.[16]

During the 2017 general election campaign Gwynne clashed with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Sky News, calling Johnson a "pillock" in a debate over Brexit policy.[17][18]

4th term (2017–2019)

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At the snap 2017 general election, Gwynne was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 63.5% and an increased majority of 14,077.[19] Following the 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.[20]

In April 2018 Gwynne was named as a member of a Facebook group where individuals had shared anti-Semitic material. When a reporter confronted him about the group he stated that he had been added to it without his permission.[21]

5th term (2019–2024)

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At the 2019 general election, Gwynne was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 50.1% and a decreased majority of 6,175.[22][23]

In April 2020, one day after Keir Starmer was elected as the new Labour leader, Gwynne resigned from his position as Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary.[24]

In the November 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle he returned to his former role as Shadow Minister for Public Health.[25][26]

In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Shadow Minister for Social Care.[27]

6th term (2024-)

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Due to the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, Gwynne's constituency of Denton and Reddish was abolished, and replaced with Gorton and Denton. At the 2024 general election, Gwynne was elected to Parliament as MP for Gorton and Denton with 50.8% of the vote and a majority of 13,413.[28] 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.

Ministerial dismissal and suspension

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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.[29]

In these messages, he mockingly suggested a reply to a constituent who had complained about a bin collection: "Dear resident, Fuck your bins. I’m re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you’ll have croaked it by the all-outs".[30] Other messages abused Labour MPs Diane Abbott and Angela Rayner, a local Labour Party leader, and someone whose name Gwynne wrote "sounds too Jewish" and "too militaristic".[30]

In response, Gwynne wrote: "I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offense I’ve caused"[31] and "I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken and, while very sad to have been suspended, will support them in any way I can."[32]

Personal life

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He is the son of sports commentator and reporter John Gwynne. He married Allison Dennis in March 2003 in Tameside, and they have two sons and a daughter.[33] Allison Gwynne serves as a councillor for Denton North East Ward of Tameside Council.[34]

References

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  1. ^ "Minister Andrew Gwynne sacked over messages". BBC News. 8 February 2025.
  2. ^ "About Us | Friends of Real Lancashire". Friends of Real Lancashire.
  3. ^ "About Andrew". Andrew Gwynne MP. 26 August 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  6. ^ Statement of Candidates Nominated for Denton and Reddish Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
  7. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Denton & Reddish". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  9. ^ "The Oldham By-election Is the First Crucial Test of Osborne's 'Northern Powerhouse'". Huffington Post. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  10. ^ "Andrew Gwynne to take lead organising for Oldham West by-election". Labour List. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Oldham West and Royton: Parliamentary By-Election Results". Oldham Council. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  12. ^ CampaignTB (2 December 2016). "A Message from Andrew Gwynne MP on World AIDS Day 2016". YouTube. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.
  13. ^ "135th IPU Assembly to debate human rights as a precursor of conflict – British Group Inter-Parliamentary Union". bgipu.org. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Gwynne pledges fightback as Corbyn asks him to spearhead Copeland by-election bid". LabourList. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  15. ^ "Labour's Copeland campaign: Your NHS is not safe in the Tories' hands". Labour List. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  16. ^ "Labour reshuffle: Lavery and Gwynne replace Jon Trickett as elections chiefs". Labour List. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  17. ^ "Labour MP tells Boris Johnson 'don't be a p*****k' in fiery TV clash". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  18. ^ "Johnson and Labour election chief in fiery spat". Sky News. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
  19. ^ "Loony Party Candidates". Archived from the original on 18 January 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  20. ^ "Notes on the Reshuffle". New Socialist. 18 June 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  21. ^ Hope, Christopher (7 April 2018). "Labour MP Andrew Gwynne admits he is member of Facebook group where anti-Semitic posts are shared". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  22. ^ Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (30 June 2021). "Denton & Reddish parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". House of Commons Library General Election 2019: full results and analysis.
  23. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. ^ Smulian, Mark (6 April 2020). "Gwynne quits and tells Starmer to seek ideas from councils". lgcplus.com.
  25. ^ "Keir Starmer unveils new frontbench team after wider reshuffle – LabourList". LabourList. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  26. ^ Andrew Gwynne MP (4 December 2021). "Gwynne to return to frontbench in Shadow Public Health role". Andrew Gwynne MP. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  27. ^ Belger, Tom (5 September 2023). "Labour reshuffle: Starmer unveils six new shadow ministers of state". LabourList. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  28. ^ "Gorton and Denton - General election results 2024" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  29. ^ "Andrew Gwynne sacked as health minister over comments posted on a WhatsApp group". Sky News. 8 February 2025. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  30. ^ a b Steerpike (8 February 2025). "Labour minister sacked for vile WhatsApps". The Spectator. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  31. ^ X. 8 February 2025 https://x.com/GwynneMP/status/1888291029486281190. Retrieved 8 February 2025. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. ^ X. 8 February 2025 https://x.com/GwynneMP/status/1888291031961260133. Retrieved 8 February 2025. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  33. ^ "Council: Minutes of the Meeting, 8th April 2003 [111. Civic Mayor's Announcements: (a) Marriage of Councillors Alison and Andrew Gwynne]". tameside.gov.uk. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 9 January 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  34. ^ "Councillors For The Ward Of Denton: North East". tameside.gov.uk. Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andrew Gwynne.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Denton and Reddish
2005–2024 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament
for Gorton and Denton
2024–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Minister without Portfolio
2016–2017 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
2017–present 		Incumbent
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