David Richard Evans (born February 1961) is a British political official who has served as general secretary of the Labour Party since 25 September 2021, having acted as general secretary since 26 May 2020. He served as an assistant general secretary of the Labour Party from 1999 to 2001. Evans was the regional director of the North West Labour Party from 1995 to 1999 and founded The Campaign Company, a political consultancy.

Early life and career

Evans was born in February 1961 in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

, moving to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

when he was three. He was an activist during the miners' strike of 1984–85, during which time he was arrested "for something like highway obstruction as he delivered a food parcel to the striking miners". He served as a Labour councillor in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

from 1986 to 1990. He was regional secretary of the Labour Party for North West England from 1995 to 1999. During this time he organised Labour's campaign in the

1997 Wirral South by-election A by-election was held for the United Kingdom parliament constituency of Wirral South, in Merseyside, England, on 27 February 1997. The seat became vacant on the death of Conservative Party Member of Parliament Barry Porter, and was won by Labo ...

, when the party gained the seat for the first time. Evans went on to serve as assistant general secretary of the Labour Party from 1999 to 2001. In 1999 he wrote a proposal to "overhaul" the party's structures, suggesting that "

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

should as far as possible be abolished in the Party" in favour of elections by

one member, one vote In the parliamentary politics of the United Kingdom and Canada, one member, one vote (OMOV) is a method of selecting party leaders, and determining party policy, by a direct vote of the members of a political party. Traditionally, these objectives ...

. Evans argued this would "empower modernising forces within the party and marginalise

Old Labour The British Labour Party grew out of the trade union movement of the late 19th century and surpassed the Liberal Party as the main opposition to the Conservatives in the early 1920s. In the 1930s and 1940s, it stressed national planning, using ...

". He "played a key backroom role in abour's 2001 election victory". In 2001, Evans and Jonathan Upton, formerly Labour's head of corporate development, started a political consultancy in Croydon called The Campaign Company. The company supported Labour politicians Tony Banks and

Robert Evans Robert Evans (born Robert J. Shapera; June 29, 1930October 26, 2019) was an American film producer, studio executive, and actor, best known for his work on '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968), ''Love Story'' (1970), ''The Godfather'' (1972), and ''Chi ...

to seek selection. Evans' wife, Aline Delawa, was company secretary in 2002, at the same time as running the party's "constitutional and legal affairs unit". In 2002 the company was hired to support the cross-party European Movement which was lobbying for Britain to change currency to the

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

. ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' described the company as a "lobbying firm which advises the NHS, Government departments and political activists seeking selection as party candidates". Evans served on the board of Chester F.C. and now serves on Chester F.C. Community Trust's board.

Electoral history

General Secretary

After the Labour Party lost the 2019 general election,

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...

resigned as leader of the Labour Party. After his successor,

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras s ...

, was elected,

Jennie Formby Jennifer "Jennie" Formby (' Sandle; born 12 April 1960) is a British trade unionist and political figure who served as General Secretary of the Labour Party from 2018 to 2020. She was previously political director and south-east England regiona ...

, considered an ally of Corbyn, resigned as general secretary of the party. A number of candidates were shortlisted to replace Formby, including Evans,

Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher (29 August 186222 October 1928) was an Australian politician who served three terms as prime minister of Australia – from 1908 to 1909, from 1910 to 1913, and from 1914 to 1915. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party ...

, Neena Gill and Byron Taylor, who was considered to be the other candidate most likely to be appointed to the position. Evans was appointed on 26 May 2020, after twenty of the thirty-eight National Executive Committee members voted for him. His appointment was seen as a victory for Starmer, as Evans was described by ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' as Starmer's "first choice" candidate. ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' described Evans as a "staunch opponent of

hard left In the United Kingdom, the hard left are the left-wing political movements and ideas outside the mainstream centre-left.* * Term The term was first used in the context of debates within both the Labour Party and the broader left in the 1980 ...

politics" and a "fierce critic of

anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestin ...

". On 29 October 2020, Evans, along with the party's chief whip Nick Brown, suspended former leader

due to his response to the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...

's report into antisemitism in the Labour Party.

Personal life

Evans played

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

and sang in the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

Greenfield Leisure, and supports Chester FC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, David Living people Labour Party (UK) officials British political consultants People from Chester Alumni of the University of York 1961 births