Kevin Bonavia (born 1977/1978) is a British Labour Party politician serving as a

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

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

since

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Early life

Bonavia was born to a Maltese father and a Scottish mother. He spent his early childhood in

Rabat, Malta Rabat ( mt, Ir-Rabat, ) is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of 11,497 as of March 2014. It adjoins the ancient capital city of Mdina, and a north-western area formed part of the Roman city of Melite until its medieva ...

before moving to England at age eight. He attended the private

Eltham College Eltham College is an independent day school situated in Mottingham, southeast London. Eltham and Mottingham once formed part of the same parish, hence its name. It is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). Early his ...

as a bursary. He graduated from the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

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 ...

(BA) in History and completed a postgraduate diploma at the University of Law. Before entering politics, he worked as a litigator and at Steel & Shamash, where he acted for Labour Party, MPs and councillors on range of matters, including advising candidates on electoral law issues during 2005 General Election campaign. He was youth officer in Birmingham Edgbaston, Greenwich & Woolwich and Lewisham East Constituency Labour Parties. In 2004-5, Bonavia was Chair of the

Young Fabians The Young Fabians is the under age 31 section of the Fabian Society, a socialist society in the United Kingdom that is affiliated to the Labour Party. The Young Fabians operate as a membership-driven think tank that organises policy debates, r ...

, a

socialist society The Socialist Society was founded in 1981 by a group of British socialists, including Raymond Williams and Ralph Miliband, who founded it as an organisation devoted to socialist education and research, linking the left of the British Labour Party ...

that is affiliated with the

Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all gen ...

Political career

Bonavia became a councillor for the Blackheath ward in

Lewisham London Borough Council Lewisham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Lewisham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council is unusual in that its executi ...

in 2010 and was reelected in 2014 and 2018, stepping down in 2022. In 2014, he became Cabinet Member for Resources in the council. From 2018 to 2022, he held the position of Cabinet Member for Democracy, Refugees and Accountability. On 30 June 2016, Bonavia was one of 600 Labour councillors who signed a public statement calling on

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 socialist ...

to resign as leader and “make way for the new leadership”. On 19 August 2016, Bonavia was one of 1,000 Labour councillors who signed a letter announcing and explaining why they were backing Owen Smith over Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election. In 2010, Bonavia ran as the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for the Rochford & Southend East constituency, in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, where he came in second place with 20.3% of the vote, a drop of 11.3%. In 2019, Bonavia ran as the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for the Clacton constituency in

, winning 15.5% of the vote, a drop of 9.9%. In 2024, he ran successfully in the

constituency in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, winning 41.4% of the vote, an increase of 6.2%.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonavia, Kevin Living people 1970s births Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Law Councillors in the London Borough of Lewisham Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Maltese emigrants to the United Kingdom Maltese people of British descent Members of the Fabian Society People educated at Eltham College People from Rabat, Malta UK MPs 2024–present