Bambos Charalambous is the Labour MP for Southgate and Wood Green, and was first elected to parliament for the predecessor seat of Enfield Southgate at the 2017 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Charalambous won 23,337 votes, representing 51.1% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Eric Sukumaran, received 8,037 votes (17.6%), while the Green Party candidate, Charith Gunawardena, secured 5,607 votes (12.3%). Charalambous was duly elected with a majority of 15,300 votes.

The Southgate and Wood Green constituency is located in North London, covering parts of the London Boroughs of Enfield and Haringey. A new constituency created for the 2024 general election, the seat draws primarily from the former Enfield Southgate constituency, alongside areas from the abolished Hornsey and Wood Green constituency and the Tottenham constituency.

The former Enfield Southgate constituency was represented by former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Portillo from 1984 to 1997, when he famously lost his seat to Labour’s Stephen Twigg. The unexpected or shock unseating of a senior MP has since been referred to as a “Portillo moment.”

Political Career

Bambos Charalambous is a member of the House of Commons procedure committee (since November 2024) – the committee responsible for considering the practice and procedure of the House in the conduct of its public business. It can make recommendations to the House about the operation of the House’s Standing Orders for public business.

Charalambous is also a member of the House of Commons administration committee (since March 2025). The committee is responsible for overseeing the internal running of the House and the services provided to its members and their staff. Its primary role is to ensure that the facilities and administrative support on the parliamentary estate are effective, efficient, and meet the needs of a modern legislature.

Charalambous held several shadow ministerial positions before June 2023. He was appointed shadow minister for the Middle East and North Africa in the foreign, commonwealth and development affairs team in December 2021. Prior to this, he served as shadow minister for immigration from May 2021 and shadow minister for crime reduction and courts from April 2020.

He also served as an opposition whip from December 2018 to April 2020.

In June 2023, Charalambous had the Labour whip suspended following a complaint about his conduct, and he sat as an independent MP. In a social media post, Charalambous said there was an allegation “that requires investigation by the Labour Party”.

He said it was “right and proper that process is allowed to take place” and would “co-operate fully”.

https://x.com/BambosMP/status/1667150926023471105?s=20

An internal party investigation concluded in April 2024 and the complaint was not upheld. Ergo, the Labour whip was restored. In a statement responding to his readmission, Charalambous said he was grateful to Labour’s complaints board “for clearing my name after a thorough investigation into the allegations against me”.

He added: “Throughout this challenging time, my primary focus has been serving the constituents of Enfield Southgate. With this matter resolved, I look forward to returning to parliament with the Labour whip restored to be the voice of my constituents once again in Westminster.”

He did not return to a frontbench position following the whip’s restoration.

Charalambous introduced the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill under the 10-minute rule procedure on 13 November 2024. Addressing the House of Commons, he said the bill aimed to “reduce the burden of debt for the poorest countries” and address the “ineffectiveness of the G20 common framework”.

He said: “This bill will compel private creditors to actively participate in the debt relief process by preventing them from suing for more than they would get if they accepted debt relief on the same terms as other lenders.”

He added: “Morally, it is the right thing to do; it is the just thing to do; and it is the compassionate thing to do. I hope this Bill will receive the support it deserves and needs.”

Charalambous was a member of the commons justice select committee (2017-2019 and 2024) and the finance committee (2019). He was previously a member of the procedure committee from 2017 to 2019 and 2020 to 2023.

He is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for global education, opera, music education, Alevis, Yazidis and Cyprus.

Charalambous delivered his maiden speech on 22 June 2017 during a debate on housing and social security. In it, he stated “I am proud of our diverse, tolerant and inclusive community, which brings out the best in people. It is precious to us all in Enfield, Southgate in these difficult times, or in any times. We will not allow the preachers of hate to drive a wedge between our community.”

He added: “Education is the cornerstone of success in life. It plays a key part in breaking down inequalities and promoting tolerance and understanding, but unless we invest in our schools and our children, those aims will be lost…

“Inequality is also increasingly prevalent in our health services… I will not sit back and allow our precious NHS to be destroyed. It needs a massive tonic, and it needs it now.”

Charalambous served as a Labour councillor on Enfield Council, representing the Palmers Green ward, for 24 years before entering parliament.

Charalambous previously stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate for Enfield Southgate in the 2010 and 2015 general elections, losing on both occasions to Conservative candidate David Burrowes. He stood in Epping Forest, a safe Conservative seat, at the 2005 general election, finishing second with 9,425 votes (21%).

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Oppose leadership election: In May 2026, Charalambous was among the over 100 Labour MPs who signed a joint statement insisting it was “no time for a leadership contest.” The letter was an intervention in the political crisis engulfing Keir Starmer’s premiership, after Labour suffered heavy losses in the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. It was organised as a counterweight to a mounting rebellion that had seen high-profile figures, including some ministers, call for Starmer’s resignation.

The statement read: “Last week we had a devastatingly tough set of election results. It shows we have a hard job ahead to win back trust from the electorate.

“That job needs to start today – with all of us working together to deliver the change the country needs.

“We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest.”

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Charalambous was one of 175 Labour MPs who nominated Bridget Phillipson for the party’s deputy leadership in September 2025. The election followed the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader after an investigation into her tax affairs. It marked the first time since 2007 that Labour had held a deputy leadership contest while in government.

Phillipson, the serving education secretary, was widely viewed as the candidate favoured by Downing Street and the party leadership. She secured 175 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), comfortably exceeding the 80 required to reach the final ballot. he was ultimately defeated by Lucy Powell.

Labour leadership 2020: Charalambous was one of 82 Labour MPs who nominated Keir Starmer for the party’s leadership in early 2020. The election was triggered by the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn following the party’s defeat in the 2019 general election, which resulted in Labour’s fewest seats in the House of Commons since 1935.

Starmer’s 82 nominations were the highest of any candidate. The shadow Brexit secretary won a decisive victory in the first round with 56.2% of the vote, defeating Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy.

Factional identity and party tradition

Labour Growth Group: Charalambous has been listed as a member of the Labour Growth Group (LGG) – a vocal faction of backbenchers committed to ensuring economic growth remains the central mission of the government. In an open letter addressed to Keir Starmer, issued upon the group’s founding in July 2024, LGG MPs said it was imperative that “the government grasps the nettle and goes for growth”.

https://x.com/PolitlcsUK/status/1817520557673381933

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Charalambous campaigned for remain in the 2016 referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU), and therefore agreed with a majority of constituents, 62.1% of whom also voted to remain.

In his 2017 maiden speech, Charalambous argued that “people from countries across the European Union should be allowed to live, work and study in London.”

Commenting on the referendum result, he added: “I wish the result had been different, but we must now face the reality, and I will do all I can to campaign for the best deal we can get.”

Remain pledge: During the 2019 general election campaign, Charalambous was one of 193 Labour candidates to sign the anti-Brexit “Remain pledge”, drawn up by the campaign group Remain Labour.

It stated: “Labour is committed to a confirmatory referendum, to give you the final say on Brexit. If elected as your Labour MP, I pledge to campaign to Remain in the EU.”

Electoral reform

Fair elections APPG: Charalambous is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for fair elections – a cross-party group of MPs and peers that campaigns for electoral reform. The group’s stated aims include replacing the first past the post (FPTP) voting system with a form of proportional representation, eliminating “dark money” and “undemocratic influence” from politics, and countering disinformation.

Electoral reform amendment: In May 2026, Charalambous was one of over 70 Labour MPs who signed an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill, calling on the government to establish a “national commission on electoral reform”. Tabled by Alex Sobel as chair of the fair elections APPG, the amendment aimed to force a rethink of the first past the post voting system.

At the time, Sobel described FPTP as “one of the biggest examples of a broken status quo in UK politics.” He invited colleagues to join this “common sense call to take a fresh look at how parliament is elected in modern Britain.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Charalambous voted in favour of the government’s flagship welfare bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Assisted dying

Charalambous voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025). He sat on the public bill committee which scrutinised and considered amendments to the proposed legislation.

Speaking to the Hansard Society, Charalambous said he sat on the committee as an “unofficial whip”.

He said: “I’m the unofficial whip as it were and the reason for that is because it’s a private members bill there couldn’t be any government whips – it’s quite a strange role because normally on a bill committee you’d have a government whip and an opposition whip.

“Because it’s a private members bill and it’s one that’s attracted a lot of interest, they wanted somebody who’d been a whip before who could help guide it through its committee stage.”

In a statement setting out his position on the bill (published November 2024), Charalambous said: “I found this an incredibly difficult decision to make as there were strong cases made on both sides.

“I believe that allowing a person who is at the end of their life to choose to end their life sooner rather than endure prolonged pain was on balance the correct decision.

“I want to make clear that this bill should not become an alternative for high-quality palliative care. I will continue to call for the palliative and end of life care sector to receive the funding it needs and deserves.”

https://x.com/BambosMP/status/1862526702368297188

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Charalambous voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Social media ban: In January 2026, Charalambous was one of over 60 Labour MPs to sign a letter to the prime minister calling for the introduction of an Australia-style ban on social media access for children under the age of 16. Organised by Plymouth Moor View MP Fred Thomas, the initiative brought together a cross-factional coalition of backbenchers – spanning the Socialist Campaign Group, Tribune Group and Blue Labour – to demand action.

The letter called on Keir Starmer to “show leadership” by introducing a minimum age for social media access “to protect young people from the consequences of unregulated, addictive social media platforms”.

It stated: “We are all strong supporters of technology, and of this Labour government’s ambition to use tech to improve lives. But successive governments have done far too little to protect young people from the consequences of unregulated, addictive social media platforms.”

Foreign policy and security

Sanctioned (Russia): In April 2022, Charalambous was among the group of MPs placed on a sanctions list by the Russian government. The measure barred them from entering Russia and was presented by Moscow as a retaliatory response to the UK’s stance on the invasion of Ukraine.

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Charalambous was among the over 254 MPs to sign a cross-party letter calling for the government to immediately recognise the state of Palestine. The letter called on the prime minister and foreign secretary to recognise Palestine at the UN Conference then taking place in New York.

https://x.com/SarahChampionMP/status/1949769513123094568

Before Politics

Born Charalambos Charalambous in Haringey, London in 1967, he was raised in Bowes Park. His parents are of Greek Cypriot heritage, originating from villages near Limassol, Cyprus.

He was educated at Chace Boys’ Comprehensive School and Tottenham College. He then studied law at Liverpool Polytechnic, where he was elected vice president of the Students’ Union in 1990.

Charalambous qualified and worked as a solicitor. He worked for Hackney Council in their housing litigation team.

Personal Life

Charalambous is of Greek Cypriot descent.

In his maiden speech, Charalambous told the House: “I am of Cypriot heritage. My parents came here from Cyprus, and English was not my first language, but we made a home in London, and we were welcomed with tolerance and warmth.”

Trivia

Charalambous has shown a consistent interest in music education, especially classical music. He serves as chair on the APPGs for opera and music education, and secured a debate in parliament on funding and support for classical music.

Addressing Westminster Hall in March 2023, Charalambous said: “The subject of classical music is close to my heart, with a number of musicians living in my Enfield Southgate constituency. Classical music is a crucial part of the cultural infrastructure of London and the UK.

“Our orchestras are world renowned, as are our opera companies, chamber music groups and highly skilled freelance classical musicians.”

He added: “It is time for the government to pick up the baton and change the tempo for the final movement of this discordant cacophony, and to stop the irreparable damage being done to some of the finest orchestras and ensembles.”

He has said his “go-to song” is Copacabana by Barry Manilow.