Andrew Pakes is the Labour and Co-operative Party MP for Peterborough, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Pakes won 13,418 votes, representing 32.0% of the vote. The Conservative incumbent, Paul Bristow, received 13,300 votes (31.8%), while the Reform UK candidate, Sue Morris, secured 5,379 votes (12.8%). Pakes was duly elected with a majority of 118.

The Peterborough constituency is located in Cambridgeshire, in the East of England region. Historically a marginal seat, it has frequently changed hands between the Labour and Conservative parties since its creation in 1974.

Political Career

Pakes served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from September 2025 to July 2026. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs.

Pakes left government as part of the July 2026 reshuffle conducted by Andy Burnham upon his appointment as prime minister.

In May 2026, Pakes 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.”

Pakes is listed as co-chair of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East (LFPME) alongside Sarah Owen. The organisation’s stated aim is to promote peace and justice in the region through the application of international law and respect for human rights.

In an April 2025 LabourList article, Pakes and Owen called on the government to recognise Palestine immediately.

They wrote: “Our longstanding position is that the UK government should immediately recognise the State of Palestine as an essential marker on the path to a two-state solution…

“What recent events have shown more than anything is that we cannot continue to feed the status quo and that there must be a strong international effort to change it.

“The old ways of approaching this are failing Palestinians and they’re failing regional security, leading only to the erosion of the territorial viability for a Palestinian state. The longer we wait, the more impossible a two-state solution will become.”

Pakes has sat as a member of the environment, food and rural affairs committee (2024-2025).

Pakes is a patron of LGBT+ Labour – a socialist society formally affiliated with the Labour Party.

Pakes delivered his maiden speech on 30 July 2024 during a debate on the Budget Responsibility Bill.

In it, he said: “I am proud to be part of the largest intake of Co-operative MPs in parliament’s history. Co-operative and community values run deep in Peterborough…

“Nearly half the children in my constituency are growing up in poverty, and in some areas, that figure is even higher. For working-class parents such as mine, the promise was that by working hard, their children could get on.

“The greatest nobility I have known is working-class pride: the pride in good work, seeing your children succeed, and the ability to get on in life. That social contract has been broken, and we are all the poorer for it.”

He added: “I also thank the trade union movement I have grown up in and been part of for my whole life for giving me the skills, opportunities and confidence to stand for election, and now to stand in this House making this speech.

“The trade union movement makes Britain a better place: every day, the contributions of thousands of workplace volunteers keep people safe at work, help people get on at work, and add to our economic wealth. I am proud to be union made.”

Before entering parliament, Pakes served as a Labour councillor on the London Borough of Southwark council (2006-2010).

Pakes previously stood unsuccessfully as the Labour and Co-operative candidate for Milton Keynes North in the 2010 general election and for Milton Keynes South in 2015.

Political Views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: … 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. She was ultimately defeated by Lucy Powell.

Factional identity and party tradition

Labour Growth Group: Pakes 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. The group, largely composed of MPs from the 2024 intake, positions itself as the voice of “the builders, not the blockers” and provides organised support for ministers taking on politically difficult decisions in the name of economic expansion.

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”.

They added: “This absolutely has to start with the sweeping planning reforms to get Britain building again. Under the Tories, planning permissions for new homes hit record lows and housebuilding cratered. Indeed, not once in their 14 years in power did the Conservatives meet their housing targets.

“Energy and transport projects were promised but not built. That’s why we are writing to you to make clear that it’s in the national interest to start delivering on our manifesto promise, including 1.5 million more homes across this parliament at the earliest opportunity.

“A failure to act will not be forgiven by the public. Britain has a housing crisis and a huge infrastructure deficit – without strong and immediate action, this will only worsen.”

SERA: Pakes has been listed as a member of the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA) – a socialist society affiliated with the Labour Party. Founded in 1973, SERA is the party’s official environmental campaign group. The organisation campaigns on a wide range of issues, including renewable energy, biodiversity, air quality and the transition to a green economy. SERA describes its member MPs as “champions for the environment”.

Pakes has previously served on SERA’ executive committee.

Electoral reform

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Pakes voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Pakes 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

Pakes voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Pakes 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.

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Pakes 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.

Before Politics

Andrew Elliot Pakes was born on 24 April 1973 in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire.

He attended Ousedale School and studied politics at the University of Hull. He later obtained a master’s degree in environment management, politics and environment studies from the University of Hull.

Pakes was the first in his family to go to university.

Pakes’ career has centred on policy, public affairs and campaigning.

He was president of the National Union of Students (NUS) from 1998 to 2000 and a member of the Unions 21 executive committee from 1996 to 2002.

Pakes was head of communications in the Labour Party from 2002 to 2003 and chief of staff to the deputy mayor of London from 2003 to 2005. He was a senior political adviser to the Labour Party, advising the shadow cabinet on environmental issues, from 2010 to 2013.

He later worked as deputy general secretary of the Prospect trade union (2018-2024).

Personal Life

Pakes is openly gay.

In 2024, PinkNews listed Pakes among a number of out LGBTQ+ parliamentarians.

In his 2024 maiden speech, Pakes said the passing of his brother in 2016 had driven him to stand for election.

He told the House: “Richard’s sudden passing from an accident followed by sepsis was tragic, but it also brought home to me that my family were only able to get through it with the help and care of NHS staff, who looked after my brother and my family.”

Trivia

Pakes was a trustee at Stonewall from 2019 to 2022.