Lee Barron (politician)

Lee Jason Barron[1] is a trade unionist and British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Corby and East Northamptonshire since 2024.[2]

Lee Barron
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Corby and East Northamptonshire
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byTom Pursglove
Majority6,331 (12.8%)
Personal details
Political partyLabour

Early life and career

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Lee was raised in a working-class family in Far Cotton, Northampton, and went to Delapre Primary School.[3]

Lee left school at 16 to take up an apprenticeship at Royal Mail as a postal worker.[3] He later became the Communication Workers Union’s (CWU) Midlands Regional Secretary.[4]

After Lee’s time working for the CWU, he became the Midlands Regional Secretary for the Trade Union Congress (TUC) representing over 1 million workers.[3][4]

Lee has also been a Northampton magistrate for over 20 years.[3][5]

Political career

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Barron is a former Northampton borough councillor and during this time was leader of the local Labour group.[3]

In 2012, Barron was selected as the Labour candidate for the Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner election, but stood down after he was caught out by a rule change that made him and many other candidates ineligible.[3][5]

On 4 July 2024, Barron was elected as MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire, turning the incumbent Conservative Tom Pursglove’s 10,268[6] majority into his own 6,331 majority.[7][8][9]

On 11 September 2024, Barron was elected as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Modernising Employment.[10]

Personal life

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In a BBC radio debate before his election, Barron said he had always been a “Mod never a Rocker” and rides a "Vespa with 12 mirrors, eight spotlamps and continental whitewall tyres".[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Members Sworn". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 752. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. 10 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Corby & East Northants | General Election 2024". Sky News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "The Labour candidate who wants to turn Corby red again at the next general election". Northamptonshire Telegraph. 14 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b "New Midlands TUC Regional Secretary appointed". Trade Union Congress.
  5. ^ a b "Labour police commissioner candidate forced to quit over conviction". The Guardian. 31 October 2012.
  6. ^ "Election for the constituency of Corby on 12 December 2019". UK Parliament.
  7. ^ "Lee Barron". Who Can I Vote For?.
  8. ^ "Victorious Lee Barron pledges to 'give the people of Corby and East Northants a voice in Westminster'". Northamptonshire Telegraph.
  9. ^ "Corby and East Northamptonshire - General election results 2024". BBC News.
  10. ^ "APPG Registers Published in 2024". UK Parliament.
  11. ^ "Five takeaways from the Corby and East Northants debate". BBC News. 2024-07-02. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
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