Charalambos "Bambos" Charalambous (born 1967) is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Southgate and Wood Green, previously Enfield Southgate, since 2017. While in opposition he held a series of shadow ministry posts. He was suspended from the Labour Party during an investigation into a complaint against him between June 2023 and April 2024, but the complaint was not upheld.[1]
Bambos Charalambous | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Shadow Minister for the Middle East and North Africa | |
| In office 4 December 2021 – 9 June 2023 | |
| Leader | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Wayne David |
| Succeeded by | Wayne David |
| Shadow Minister for Immigration | |
| In office 14 May 2021 – 4 December 2021 | |
| Leader | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Holly Lynch |
| Succeeded by | Jack Dromey |
| Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction and Courts | |
| In office 9 April 2020 – 14 May 2021 | |
| Leader | Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Holly Lynch |
| Shadow Minister for Justice | |
| In office 22 January 2020 – 9 April 2020 | |
| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Opposition Whip | |
| In office 6 December 2018 – 9 April 2020 | |
| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Fiona Onasanya |
| Member of Parliament for Southgate and Wood Green Enfield Southgate (2017–2024) | |
| Assumed office 8 June 2017 | |
| Preceded by | David Burrowes |
| Majority | 15,300 (33.5%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charalambos Charalambous 1967 (age 56–57) Haringey, London, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | Liverpool John Moores University |
| Website | Official website |
Charalambous grew up in North London and trained and worked as a solicitor. Before entering national politics, he served as a member of Enfield Council for 24 years.
Early life and career
editCharalambos "Bambos" Charalambous was born in 1967, in a Greek Cypriot family and raised in Bowes Park.[2][3] His parents come from Kalo Chorio and Fasoulla, both near Limassol, in Cyprus.[4][5]
He was educated at Chace Boys' Comprehensive School, followed by Tottenham College and then Liverpool Polytechnic[6] (now Liverpool John Moores University). Charalambous read law and was elected as vice president of the Students' Union in 1990.
Charalambous is a solicitor. Before and until his election as MP, he worked for Hackney Council in their housing litigation team.[7]
He served as a member of Enfield Council for the Palmers Green ward for 24 years. Whilst a councillor, he also served as an Associate Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture, Localism and Young People.[8]
Parliamentary career
editAt the 2005 general election, Charalambous stood as the Labour Party candidate in Epping Forest, coming second with 21% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP Eleanor Laing.[9]
Charalambous stood in Enfield Southgate at the 2010 general election, coming second with 32.2% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP David Burrowes.[10][11] He again stood in Enfield Southgate at the 2015 general election, coming second with 39% of the vote, again behind David Burrowes.[12][13]
At the snap 2017 general election, Charalambous was elected to Parliament as MP for Enfield Southgate with 51.7% of the vote and a majority of 4,355.[14][15][3][16][17]
Charalambous served on the Justice Select Committee. He also served as a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on London, Cyprus, Crossrail Two, Autism, Sex Equality, Music, Global Education For All and London's Planning and Built Environment.[18]
In January 2018, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Rebecca Long-Bailey, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.[19] In December 2018, he was appointed as an Opposition (Labour) Whip.[20]
At the 2019 general election, Charalambous was re-elected as MP for Enfield Southgate with a decreased vote share of 48.5% and an increased majority of 4,450.[21]
Charalambous was appointed as a Shadow Minister for Justice in January 2020.[22]
Following Keir Starmer's election as Labour leader in April 2020, he joined the shadow Home Office team as the Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction and Courts.[23] Charalambous swapped roles with Holly Lynch in a minor reshuffle in May 2021, becoming the Shadow Minister for Immigration.[24] He served as Shadow Minister for the Middle East and North Africa from 2021 to June 2023, when he was suspended as a Labour MP following an allegation "that requires investigation by the Labour Party".[25][26] After a thorough investigation involving scrutiny by a board chaired by an independent lawyer, the complaint was not upheld and he had the whip restored in April 2024.[27]
Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Charalambous' constituency of Enfield Southgate was abolished, and replaced with Southgate and Wood Green. At the 2024 general election, Charalambous was elected to Parliament as MP for Southgate and Wood Green with 51.1% of the vote and a majority of 15,300.[28]
References
edit- ^ "Enfield Southgate MP Bambos Charalambous readmitted to Labour Party".
- ^ "Bambos Charalambous - Who is he?". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
- ^ a b Casey, Clare (9 June 2017). "Shock win for the underdog in Enfield Southgate". Enfield Gazette & Advertiser. Tindle Newspapers. Retrieved 9 June 2017. [dead link]
- ^ "Labour select Cypriot MP candidate for Enfield Southgate". Parikiaki. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- ^ "Could Bambos Charalambous Labour Parliamentary candidate for Southgate be first Cypriot MP". Parikiaki. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ^ "Charalambous, Bambos". Who's Who. Vol. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 13 February 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "New boy Bambos talks Cyprus, justice and getting lost in the corridors of power". North London Press. Retrieved 13 July 2017. [dead link]
- ^ "Councillor details – Bambos Charalambous". Enfield Council. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Electoral Commission - Enfield Southgate". www.electoralcommission.org.uk.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Results for Enfield Southgate, 7 May 2015". 7 May 2015.
- ^ "Enfield Southgate parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
- ^ "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11776.
- ^ "Bambos Charalambous MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ "About me". BambosCharalambousMP. Archived from the original on 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ Despina (17 January 2018). "Our own UK Cypriot British MP Bambos Charalambous is promoted by Jeremy Corbyn". Parikiaki. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ MP, Bambos Charalambous (6 December 2018). "Absolutely thrilled and honoured to have joined the @labourwhips at this exciting time in Parliament". @bambosmp. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ "Enfield Southgate Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ @Bambos_MP (22 January 2020). "It is a real honour to have been asked to serve as a Shadow Justice Minister. I will be leading for Labour on the areas of victims and legal aid. I look forward to working with all the Shadow Justice Team to hold the Government to account and campaigning for access to justice" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Shadow Cabinet – The Labour Party". labour.org.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ Rodgers, Sienna (14 May 2021). "Reshuffle: Keir Starmer's new Labour frontbench in full". LabourList. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ Wingate, Sophie (9 June 2023). "Shadow minister suspended from Labour after complaint". The Independent. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
- ^ "Labour shadow minister suspended over complaint". BBC News. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ Courea, Eleni (12 April 2024). "Bambos Charalambous readmitted to Labour party after investigation". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- ^ "Southgate and Wood Green - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
External links
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