Andrew Western is the Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, having first been elected to parliament in a by-election on 15 December 2022.

In the 2024 general election, Western won 22,642 votes, representing 49.2% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Mark Cornes, received 6,492 votes (14.1%), while the Reform UK candidate, Charlotte Faulkner, secured 5,485 votes (11.9%). Western was duly elected with a majority of 16,150 votes.

The Stretford and Urmston constituency is located in Greater Manchester and includes Stretford, Urmston, Davyhulme and Partington. It is considered a safe Labour seat, held by the party since its creation in 1997.

Political Career

Western currently serves as minister of state in the Department for Work and Pensions. He was appointed to this role in July 2026, following the Labour leadership contest and Andy Burnham’s elevation as prime minister.

Western served as parliamentary under-secretary of state for transformation at the Department for Work and Pensions from July 2024 to July 2026.

Prior to the 2024 general election, which saw Labour returned to power after 14 years in opposition, Western served as an opposition whip from September 2023 until the July 2024 general election.

In a LabourList interview, published July 2023, Western was described as parliament’s “most yimby [yes in my backyard] politician”.

In the same interview, Western said he identified with the “soft left” of the party.

He said: “I believe in mainstream European social democracy. A big and active state, progressive systems of taxation, equality, public services for everybody.”

Western has sat as a member of the procedure committee (2024), the Scottish affairs committee (2023-2024), and the international trade committee (2023)

The 2022 Stretford and Urmston by-election came after Kate Green, the incumbent MP, resigned after being nominated as Greater Manchester’s deputy mayor for policing and crime.

Western delivered his maiden speech on 26 January 2023 during a debate on Holocaust Memorial Day.

In it, he said: “It would be unforgivable for me not to refer in this speech to Stretford and Urmston’s unique status as the birthplace of what is surely the greatest social advance in the history of our country: our precious NHS.

“It was at Park Hospital, now Trafford General Hospital, that the late, great Nye Bevan officially opened the first NHS hospital on 5 July 1948.

“I look forward to celebrating the 75th birthday of the NHS this year, and I can only concur with Bevan’s words that day, that that was ‘the most civilised step any country has ever taken.’”

He added: “I shall simply say that our housing crisis is, at its source, a crisis of basic supply and demand, the answer to which, however much we tinker at the edges, can only ever be to build, build, build.”

Before entering parliament, Western served as leader of Trafford Council from 2018 until his resignation in December 2022. He was first elected as a Labour councillor in 2011 and became leader of the Labour group in 2014.

Western previously contested the Altrincham and Sale West constituency at the 2019 and 2017 general elections.

Political views

Western voted in favour of 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).

Remain pledge: During the 2019 general election campaign, Western 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.”

Welfare vote (July 2025): Western 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.

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Western 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.

Before Politics

Born Andrew Howard Western at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester on 18 March 1985. He grew up in Timperley, Trafford.

He attended Altrincham Grammar School for Boys before studying history and politics at the University of Sheffield, graduating in 2006.

Before becoming leader of Trafford Council, he worked in project management within the engineering sector, specialising in transport infrastructure.

Personal Life

Western lives in Urmston.

Trivia

Western joined the Labour Party aged 17.