Alistair Luke Strathern (born 5 March 1990) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842. History Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...

since the 2024 general election. He previously served as MP for Mid Bedfordshire after winning a by-election in 2023.

Early life and education

Alistair Luke Strathern was born on 5 March 1990, and grew up in

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

. He was educated at

Sharnbrook Academy Sharnbrook Academy, formerly Sharnbrook Upper School until 2017, is a large, rural Academy (English school), academy school located in Sharnbrook, a village in the English county of Bedfordshire. Built in 1975, the school now has over 1900 s ...

Sharnbrook Sharnbrook is a village and civil parish located in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. The settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a parish within the Hundred of Willey but was probably first developed in Saxon tim ...

, before studying philosophy, politics and economics at

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. While a student at Oxford, Strathern chaired the

Oxford University Labour Club Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) was founded in 1919 to promote democratic socialism and is today the home of the Labour Party and of social democracy at Oxford University. OULC is the largest and oldest university Labour club in the count ...

. While still at university, he stood in the

2010 Oxford City Council election Elections for Oxford City Council were held on Thursday 6 May 2010. As Oxford City Council is elected by halves, one seat in each of the 24 wards was up for election. Labour gained two seats (Barton and Sandhills ward from the Liberal Democrats a ...

for the ward of Holywell, finishing fourth.

Early career

After graduating, Strathern was employed by the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

in regulating

climate risk insurance Climate risk insurance is a type of insurance designed to mitigate the financial and other risk associated with climate change, especially phenomena like extreme weather. The insurance is often treated as a type of insurance needed for improving ...

. He had previously worked as a mathematics teacher. He was a Labour councillor for the ward of Higham Hill on Waltham Forest London Borough Council from 26 May 2014 until his resignation on 5 September 2023. At

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

, Strathern held the post of "Cabinet Member for 15-Minute Neighbourhoods". Between 2014 and 2015, he was a director of Ascham Homes Limited, an

arms-length management organisation In the United Kingdom, an arms-length management organisation (ALMO) is a not-for-profit company that provides housing services on behalf of a local authority. Usually an ALMO is set up by the authority to manage and improve all or part of its ho ...

that provided

council housing Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

in Waltham Forest.

Parliamentary career

At the

2023 Mid Bedfordshire by-election A by-election took place on 19 October 2023 in the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Mid Bedfordshire. It took place on the same day as the 2023 Tamworth by-election. The seat became vacant following the resignation of the sitting ...

, Strathern was elected to Parliament as MP for Mid Bedfordshire with 34.1% of the vote and a majority of 1,192. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described the result as "delivering a significant blow to

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two Cabinet of ...

's hopes of holding on to power at the 2024 general election". During the campaign, the '' i'' wrote of Strathern: "On the surface the 33-year-old seems dependable, almost old-fashioned. There's a whiff of corduroy about him. His manner is upbeat but a tad shy; as if he's fought hard to be socially confident". In January 2024, Strathern was appointed as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to both the

Shadow Chancellor The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The title is given at the gift of the Leader of the Opposition and ...

, Rachel Reeves, and Shadow Climate Secretary,

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

. Later that month, he announced his intention to contest

at the 2024 general election, which would include his home in Shefford and other parts of Mid Bedfordshire due to boundary changes. In July 2024, Strathern was elected MP for

, beating incumbent Conservative MP and treasury minister Bim Afolami with a majority of 8,109.

Personal life

Strathern has taken part in protests organised by the environmental campaign group

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

, including a stunt carried out in 2022 outside the Home Office by a group opposed to the Public Order Act. His involvement in the protest was revealed some months later, and sparked calls by the

defence secretary A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Grant Shapps Grant Shapps (born 14 September 1968) is a British politician who is serving as Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy since October 2022. He previously served as Secretary of State for Transport in the Premiership of Bo ...

for his parliamentary candidacy to be withdrawn. A photograph of Strathern at the protest dressed as a

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

appeared on the front page of '' The Sun'' on 8 August 2023, under the headline "Wannabe Labour MP unmasked as 'zombie' Greenpeace zealot". Strathern stated that he does not regret the protest. Strathern's partner is Megan Corton Scott, a political campaigner for Greenpeace. Strathern has a slight

lisp A lisp is a speech impairment in which a person misarticulates sibilants (, , , , , , , ). These misarticulations often result in unclear speech. Types * A frontal lisp occurs when the tongue is placed anterior to the target. Interdental lisping ...

, which has become less pronounced with age. He is a first cousin, once removed, of former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

. Strathern is a supporter of

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strathern, Alistair 21st-century English educators Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford Councillors in the London Borough of Waltham Forest Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people People associated with Greenpeace People associated with the Bank of England Politicians from Bedfordshire Schoolteachers from Bedfordshire UK councillors 2014–2018 UK councillors 2018–2022 UK councillors 2022–2026 UK MPs 2019–2024 1990 births UK MPs 2024–present