Aphra Brandreth is the Conservative MP for Chester South and Eddisbury, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Brandreth won 19,905 votes, representing 37.9% of the vote. The Labour Party candidate, Angeliki Stogia, received 16,848 votes (32.1%), while the Reform UK candidate, Peter Langley, secured 6,414 votes (12.2%). Brandreth was duly elected with a majority of 3,057.

Brandreth is one of 26 new Conservative MPs that entered parliament at the 2024 general election.

The Chester South and Eddisbury constituency is located in Cheshire, North West England. It is a new constituency created for the 2024 general election from the former seats of Eddisbury and City of Chester.

The predecessor Eddisbury seat was held by Edward Timpson from 2019 to 2024. It was previously represented by Conservative MPs Antoinette Sandbach and Stephen O’Brien. Sandbach left the Conservative Party in the 2017-2019 parliament and defected to the Liberal Democrats.

Brandreth’s father, Gyles Brandreth, represented the former City of Chester seat from 1992-1997.

Political Career

Brandreth currently serves as shadow parliamentary under secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs and an opposition whip. She was appointed to these roles as part of the August/September 2026 shadow ministerial reshuffle, Kemi Badenoch’s second as Conservative leader.

Brandreth is also a member of the House of Commons foreign affairs select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for examining the expenditure, administration and policy of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and other associated bodies.

Brandreth served as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the shadow environment, food and rural affairs team from November 2024 to September 2026.

Brandreth has been listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for motor neurone disease, transport safety and women and enterprise.

Brandreth delivered her maiden speech on 24 July 2024 in a debate on education and opportunity.

In it, she said: “The joy of my constituency is that it includes a rich range of dynamic village communities and a swathe of one of the greatest historic cities in Europe, the matchless city of Chester.”

She added: “I draw inspiration from my constituency and from my predecessors: not only my father, who was the member for City of Chester in the 1990s – Mr Speaker will know both how marvellous and, sometimes, how irritating it can be to have a parent who was themselves a member – but the newly elected honourable member for Chester North and Neston [Samantha Dixon], who sits on the government benches and who previously represented the City of Chester.”

Before entering parliament, Brandreth served as a Conservative councillor on Richmond upon Thames Borough Council from 2018 to 2022.

Brandreth was made an honorary vice president of the Conservative Women’s Organisation in 2024 and has been active in the Conservative Party since childhood.

Brandreth contested the Kingston and Surbiton seat at the 2019 general election.

Political views

Factional identity and party tradition

Conservative Environment Network: Brandreth is listed as a member of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) parliamentary caucus. CEN is an independent forum for conservatives that supports conservation and decarbonisation. It calls for the environment to be given a higher profile at the heart of policy making, describing “biodiversity loss, climate change, and wasteful resource use are threats to our national security”, and promotes “market-based policies” to environmental challenges. Members of its parliamentary caucus, such as Brandreth, are thought to generally align with the group’s “green” message and environmentalism.

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Brandreth voted against the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the ten-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union.

Assisted dying

Brandreth 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).

Before Politics

Born Aphra Kendal Alice Brandreth on 18 July 1978, she attended Godolphin and Latymer School.

Brandreth studied economics at University College London (UCL) and holds a master’s degree in Environmental Economics.

She worked as an economic adviser for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2003 to 2013.

She later co-founded a veterinary business with her husband.

Personal Life

Brandreth is the daughter of broadcaster and former Conservative MP Gyles Brandreth.

She is married to Ian Stroud. They have three children.

Trivia

Brandreth previously presented the Commonwealth Poetry Podcast, exploring the 56 Commonwealth countries through their poetry, alongside her father.

She was named after 17th century writer Aphra Behn.