Wikipedia

Mike Amesbury

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Michael Lee Amesbury (born 7 May 1969) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Runcorn and Helsby, previously Weaver Vale, since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, he has been suspended pending a police investigation since October 2024.

Mike Amesbury
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Runcorn and Helsby
Weaver Vale (2017–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byGraham Evans
Majority14,696 (34.8%)
Member of Manchester City Council
for Fallowfield
In office
4 May 2006 – 26 June 2017
Preceded byJohn-Paul Wilkins
Succeeded byAli Ilyas
Personal details
Born
Michael Lee Amesbury

(1969-05-07) 7 May 1969 (age 55)
Wythenshawe, Manchester, England
Political partyLabour (suspended)
Alma materBradford University (BA)
University of Central England (PGDip)
Occupation
  • Politician
  • careers adviser
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life and education

Michael Lee Amesbury was born on 7 May 1969 in Wythenshawe, Manchester.[1] He moved to Castleford in West Yorkshire at a young age, where he was educated at Castleford High School. He joined the Labour Party in the late 1980s, having been politicised by the miners' strikes.[2]

Amesbury studied at Ilkley College, where he was awarded Bachelor of Arts degree in Community Studies from Bradford University in 1993. He was president of the Ilkley College students' union from 1993 to 1994, and founded its Labour Party society. In 1996, he received a Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Guidance from the University of Central England in Birmingham.[3]

Early political career

Amesbury worked as an officer for the North West Labour Party from 1999 until 2003, when he became a manger at careers advice service Connexions. He had previously worked as a careers advisor in Birmingham after receiving his postgraduate degree.[2]

Amesbury was first elected to Manchester City Council in 2006, defeating the incumbent Liberal Democrat councillor in Fallowfield.[4] He served as the Council's Executive Member for Culture and Leisure from 2008 to 2012, working full-time in the role.[5] He was a member of Labour's National Policy Forum from 2010 to 2015, and served as a councillor until his resignation in 2017.[6]

Amesbury returned to North West Labour as an events and fundraising manager in 2013, having previously worked as a project manager at The Manchester College. He was a policy adviser at Tameside Council from 2014 until 2015, when he became an adviser to Tameside MP Angela Rayner. He worked for Andy Burnham from 2016 to 2017, supporting the MP and later his Greater Manchester mayoral campaign.

Parliamentary career

At the snap 2017 general election, Amesbury was elected to Parliament as MP for Weaver Vale with 51.5% of the vote and a majority of 3,928.[7][8] He campaigned for 'remain' in the 2016 EU membership referendum.[9]

In October 2017, Amesbury stated that he supports the eventual implementation of proportional representation at elections and reform of the House of Lords to make its membership mainly elected.[2]

He was named Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Shadow Department for Work and Pensions team in January 2018, and in July of the same year was promoted to Shadow Minister for Employment for that department.[10]

In March 2019, Amesbury apologised for having shared an antisemitic caricature on Facebook in 2013, stating “I apologise unreservedly for this terrible error. I genuinely don’t recall sharing this image and I’m mortified that I did so. This appalling image image contains an antisemitic caricature and a reference to the ‘illuminati’ conspiracy theory. I would never have intentionally shared antisemitic tropes and I am sincerely sorry that I did”.[11]

At the 2019 general election, Amesbury was re-elected as MP for Weaver Vale with a decreased vote share of 44.9% and a decreased majority of 562.[12]

In March 2020, Amesbury put forward a private member's bill on education for a second reading. The Bill sought to reduce the cost of school uniforms.[13] In April 2021, the bill became law after it made it through final reading in the House of Lords and received royal assent the following day.[14]

Amesbury was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Housing and Planning in the April 2020 reshuffle following Keir Starmer's election as Labour leader.[15] In the subsequent May 2021 reshuffle, his brief was reduced to the Shadow Minister for Housing, with Ruth Cadbury receiving the planning portfolio.[16] He became Shadow Local Government Minister in 2021, but resigned in June 2022 to focus on his constituency work.[17]

In July 2020, Amesbury became one of four vice-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Whistleblowing, which some campaigners have criticised on whistleblowing law reform.[18][19]

From September 2023 to May 2024 he was Shadow Minister for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, specialising in building safety and homelessness.[10][20]

Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Amesbury's constituency of Weaver Vale was abolished, and replaced with Runcorn and Helsby. At the 2024 general election, Amesbury was elected to Parliament as MP for Runcorn and Helsby with 52.9% of the vote and a majority of 14,696.[21][22]

In July 2023, 56-year-old Stephen Cowell was convicted of stalking and harassing Amesbury in his constituency of Weaver Vale between June and August 2022. At sentencing, Cowell was handed a restraining order, a 25 day rehabilitation order, a £500 fine and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community work.[23][24]

Suspension

At about 2:15 am on 26 October 2024, Amesbury was filmed in Frodsham confronting a man who was lying on the ground.[25] Amesbury shouted: "You won't threaten the MP ever again, will you?" Cheshire Police stated that an assault had been reported and that no arrests had been made.[26] Prior footage was subsequently released of Amesbury punching the man to the ground, and of his directing more punches as the man lay prone.[27] Pending an investigation into the incident, the Labour Party administratively suspended Amesbury's party membership and parliamentary whip.[28][27] Witnesses later said that the man had initially engaged Amesbury in a conversation about a local bridge which would be closed during winter, before the men's interactions became "heated".[25]

Maxine Thompson-Curl, director of the One Punch UK charity, whose son died after being punched in the head in 2011, said she could not bear to watch the CCTV footage of the incident.[29]

Personal life

Amesbury is married and has a son; his wife is from Runcorn, Cheshire.[30] His family own a dog named Corbyn and a cat named Marx.[31] He is a supporter of Manchester United F.C.[2]

He suffered from depression in the late 2000s, which resulted in behaviour of 'self-destruction' and almost ended his marriage.[32] Amesbury has since received medical support for depression.

References

  1. ^ "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11780.
  2. ^ a b c d "Interview with Mike Amesbury MP". TalkPolitics. 7 October 2017. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Amesbury, Mike". Who's Who. Vol. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 14 February 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ "Election results - Local elections 2006 | Manchester City Council". www.manchester.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  5. ^ "Mather & Co scores with National Football Museum contract". Manchester Evening News. 21 September 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  6. ^ Amesbury, Mike (7 July 2017). "The Register of Members' Financial Interests". UK Parliament.
  7. ^ BBC News: Election results 2017: Labour gains Weaver Vale, Warrington South and Crewe and Nantwich Archived 2018-10-08 at the Wayback Machine (accessed 9 June 2017)
  8. ^ "Weaver Vale parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  9. ^ McDougall, John (12 November 2019). "Here's the Labour candidate's policies for Weaver Vale". Chester Chronicle. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Mike Amesbury". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  11. ^ Sugarman, Daniel (13 March 2019). "Labour Shadow Minister Mike Amesbury apologises for sharing 'antisemitic caricature' – after denying he had". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated 2019" (PDF).
  13. ^ "Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Bill - Friday 13 March 2020 - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk.
  14. ^ Murphy, Scott (30 April 2021). "Northwich MP explains the purpose of his school uniform bill". Northwich Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Mike Amesbury given shadow ministerial role by new Labour leader". Northwich Guardian. 14 April 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  16. ^ Rodgers, Sienna (14 May 2021). "Reshuffle: Keir Starmer's new Labour frontbench in full". LabourList. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Mike Amesbury MP resigns from shadow minister role". BBC News. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  18. ^ "Meet the team". APPG Whistleblowing. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Home". The Whistler. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  20. ^ Gayne, Daniel (24 June 2024). "Who's who in Labour's would-be cabinet". Intelligence for Architects. Building Design. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  21. ^ "Runcorn and Helsby Results - General Election 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Election Results for Runcorn and Helsby". Halton Borough Council.
  23. ^ "Stalker harassed Mike Amesbury MP in shopping centre and Costa Coffee". BBC News. 24 July 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  24. ^ "MP Mike Amesbury's stalker handed a restraining order". BBC News. 18 August 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  25. ^ a b Kampfner, Constance (28 October 2024). "Man punched by Mike Amesbury in argument about bridge is named". The Times. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
  26. ^ Jahangir, Rumeana; Farley, Harry (26 October 2024). "MP row is matter for police, says Phillipson". BBC News. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  27. ^ a b Whannel, Kate; Farley, Harry (27 October 2024). "Labour suspends MP after CCTV appears to show him punching man". BBC News. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  28. ^ Haslam, Ben; Thorp, Liam (27 October 2024). "Labour suspends Runcorn MP Mike Amesbury over punch video". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  29. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8xnn7vp8zo
  30. ^ "Cockapoo named Corbyn tops Westminster dog vote". BBC News. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  31. ^ Meet The MPs (17 April 2018). E30: Mike Amesbury MP - #MeetTheMPs. Retrieved 30 October 2024 – via YouTube.
  32. ^ Amesbury, Mike (21 October 2014). "Manchester councillor: My secret battle with depression". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mike Amesbury.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for for Weaver Vale
2017–2024 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament
for Runcorn and Helsby
2024–present 		Incumbent
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