Graham Stringer is the Labour MP for Blackley and Middleton South, having first been elected to parliament for the predecessor seat of Manchester Blackley in 1997. Stringer represented the Blackley and Broughton seat from 2010 to 2024.

In the 2024 general election, Stringer received 16,864 votes, representing 53.8% of the vote share. The Reform UK candidate, Alison Devine, received 6,614 votes (21.1%), while the Green Party candidate, Dylan Lewis-Creser, secured 3,197 votes (10.2%). Stringer was duly re-elected with a majority of 10,250 votes.

The Blackley and Middleton South constituency covers parts of North Manchester and the southern part of the town of Middleton in the neighbouring Borough of Rochdale. It is a new constituency created for the 2024 general election, formed primarily from the abolished Blackley and Broughton seat (excluding Salford parts) with additions from Heywood and Middleton and Manchester Central. The predecessor seats were safe Labour territory.

Political Career

Stringer is a member of the panel of chairs (since 2015). The panel of chairs is made up of MPs chosen by the House of Commons speaker, typically at the beginning of every parliament, to chair public bill committees and other commons general committees. In this capacity, Stringer also chairs debates in Westminster Hall and may also act as temporary chair during a committee of the whole House.

Stringer served in Tony Blair’s government as parliamentary secretary to the cabinet office (November 1999 – June 2001) and as a government whip (lord commissioner of the Treasury) (June 2001 – May 2002).

In July 2008, Stringer reportedly became the first Labour MP to call for Gordon Brown to resign as prime minister. He said that it was time for a “new start” in the wake of the Glasgow East by-election to the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Stringer called on the cabinet to have a “closed and honest discussion with Gordon Brown”.

In October 2014, Stringer said that the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, was “not an asset on the doorsteps” when campaigning. He called for Miliband to sack some of his advisers and reshuffle the shadow cabinet.

Stringer told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If you go on the doorstep, Ed isn’t an asset to us. I don’t think that is even a controversial thing to say, rather sadly. They [voters] think he doesn’t understand the problems they are suffering.”

He added: “The Labour Party has appointed too many people who have very little experience of the world.”

Stringer is known for holding views distinct from the Labour mainstream on several key issues. He is a long-standing eurosceptic and was one of the few Labour MPs to campaign for Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

In June 2016, Stringer wrote an article for the New Statesman calling for a Leave vote.

He wrote: “In spite of what you may have heard, the EU is not a progressive organisation. It is a club designed and run by unelected political elites who we cannot vote to remove. It is not run for the people but for the benefit of big multinational corporations.

“It is founded on a neoliberal economic ideology that demands obedience to the needs of a single currency, at the expense of local social conditions.”

Stringer has served as a trustee of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a think tank known for challenging climate change policies. In March 2022, Stringer reportedly joined Nigel Farage at an anti-net zero rally in 2022.

In 2014, while on the energy and climate change select committee, he voted against the committee’s acceptance of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s conclusion that human activity is the dominant cause of global warming. Stringer is said to have tried unsuccessfully to remove a sentence endorsing the IPCC’s projections of future warming, as well as a paragraph concluding “warming is expected to continue in the coming decades”.

In 2017, he told the Independent: “I am sceptical about everything – that is what scientists are. But there has been an enormous amount of shoddy work masquerading as science with regards to climate change.”

A veteran parliamentarian, Stringer has sat as a member of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee (2020-2024), the science, innovation and technology committee (2006-2007 and 2009-2024), the transport committee (2002-2010 and 2011-2019), the European scrutiny committee (2015-2017), the energy and climate change committee (2013-2015), the justice committee (2013-2014), the innovation, universities, science and skills committee (2008-2009), and environment, transport and regional affairs committee (1997-1999).

Stringer is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for freedom of speech and pandemic response and recovery.

Stringer delivered his maiden speech on 11 June 1997.

In it, he said: “As unemployment in the constituency has risen, so many of the social conditions have become worse. There is considerable poverty in parts of the constituency. Much of the housing in the private and public sector needs much investment.

“There is a great deal to do within the constituency, and I look forward to many of the government’s bills which will improve that situation.”

Before entering parliament, Stringer had a long career in local government. He served as a Manchester City councillor from 1979 to 1998. He was leader of Manchester City Council for 12 years, from 1984 to 1996, overseeing significant regeneration projects. He also served as Chair of Manchester Airport plc from 1996 to 1997.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Starmer stand down: In May 2026, Stringer publicly called for Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to step down/set out a timetable for his departure. The move followed the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru.

Labour leadership 2020: Stringer was one of 31 Labour MPs who nominated Lisa Nandy 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.

Nandy, the MP for Wigan, argued that the party needed a “bridge” to reconnect with traditional working-class voters in northern England. She finished third in the contest with 16.2% of the vote.

Labour leadership 2015: Stringer was one of 26 Labour MPs who did not nominate any candidate for the party’s leadership in June 2015. The election was triggered by the resignation of Ed Miliband following the 2015 general election defeat and was the first to be conducted under the “one member, one vote” system. The contest eventually saw Jeremy Corbyn, a veteran backbencher, win a landslide victory in the first round with 59.5% of the vote, defeating Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall.

Corbyn loyalty list: In March 2016, Stringer was labelled as “neutral but not hostile” by the Corbyn leadership in a leaked list which categorised Labour MPs by their perceived loyalty.

Labour leadership 2010: Stringer was one of 81 Labour MPs who nominated David Miliband for the party’s leadership in May 2010. The election followed the resignation of Gordon Brown, who stepped down as prime minister and Labour leader after the 2010 general election.

Miliband, the former foreign secretary, was seen as closely aligned with the New Labour project – a Blairite figure. He secured 81 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), comfortably exceeding the 33 required to reach the final ballot, but was narrowly defeated by his brother, Ed Miliband, in the final round by 50.7% to 49.3%.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Stringer supported Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore agreed with a majority of his constituents, just over 50% of whom also voted to Leave.

Article 50: In February 2017, Stringer voted in favour of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The legislation empowered the prime minister to notify the Council of the European Union of the UK’s intention to withdraw, formally triggering the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. MPs supported the bill by 498 votes to 114 at second reading.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Stringer voted against 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.

Welfare vote (July 2015): Alongside almost one quarter of his colleagues, Stringer voted against the Conservative government’s Welfare Reform and Work Bill at second reading – defying the party whip which instructed Labour MPs to abstain. This decision to abstain, taken by interim Labour leader Harriet Harman, caused a furious backlash within the party, particularly from its left wing. It became a defining issue in the ongoing leadership contest. Jeremy Corbyn was the only candidate to vote against the bill. Overall, 48 Labour MPs voted against the proposed legislation.

Assisted dying

Stringer 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): Stringer voted against 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.

Same-sex marriage (2013): In February 2013, Stringer voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at its second reading. The landmark piece of legislation, which received its second reading by 400 votes to 175, legalised marriage for same-sex couples in England and Wales.

Social media ban: In January 2026, Stringer 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

Trident renewal (2016): Stringer voted against a government motion calling for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system in July 2016. The motion, which was passed by 472 votes to 117, committed the UK to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the nation’s nuclear weapons. Labour was split over the issue with 140 of its 230 MPs going against leader Jeremy Corbyn and backing the motion.

Syria airstrikes (2015): Stringer voted against a government motion to extend UK airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria in December 2015. The motion, which was passed by 397 votes to 223 after a ten-hour debate in the House of Commons, authorised the RAF to conduct strikes against Isis targets in Syria.

Syria airstrikes (2013): Stringer voted against the government’s motion on the principle of military intervention in Syria in August 2013. The government motion was defeated by 285 votes to 272, a move which effectively ruled out UK participation in any US-led military strikes.

Iraq War vote (2003): In March 2003, Stringer voted for a rebel amendment which argued that the case for war against Iraq had not been established. A total of 139 Labour, 53 Liberal Democrat and 15 Conservative MPs backed the amendment. The government’s unamended motion authorising military action against Iraq passed by 412 votes to 149.

Civil liberties

Covid passes vote (2021): Stringer was one of 126 MPs to vote against Covid passes in England in December 2021. The measure, introduced by Boris Johnson’s government, was carried by 369 votes to 126.

Before Politics

Born in Manchester on 17 February 1950, Stringer attended Openshaw Technical High School for Boys.

He studied chemistry (BSc) at the University of Sheffield, graduating in 1971.

After university, he worked as an analytical chemist in the plastics industry until entering local government full-time.

Personal Life

Stringer is married and has three children.

Trivia

Stringer was only one of a handful of Labour MPs who supported Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum.