Jo Stevens

MP for Cardiff East

Labour

Jo Stevens is the Labour MP for Cardiff East, having first been elected for the predecessor seat of Cardiff Central at the 2015 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Stevens received 15,833 votes, representing 40.5% of the vote share. The Liberal Democrat candidate, Rodney Berman, received 6,736 votes (17.2%), while the Reform UK candidate, Lee Canning, secured 4,980 votes (12.7%). Stevens was duly re-elected with a majority of 9,097 votes.

The Cardiff East constituency covers the eastern part of the city of Cardiff. It includes wards such as Adamsdown, Pentwyn, Penylan, Plasnewydd, Llanrumney, Rumney and Trowbridge. It is a new constituency created for the 2024 general election, primarily formed from the abolished Cardiff Central constituency and wards transferred from Cardiff South and Penarth.

The predecessor Cardiff Central seat was gained by Labour in 2015, having previously been a three-way marginal seat held by the Liberal Democrats (2005-15) and Conservatives (1983-1892).

Political Career

Stevens sat in cabinet as secretary of state for Wales from July 2024 to July 2026. She left government as part of the July 2026 cabinet reshuffle conducted by Andy Burnham upon his appointment as prime minister.

Prior to the 2024 general election, which saw Labour returned to power after 14 years in opposition, Stevens held several senior roles in the shadow cabinet under both Keir Starmer and Jeremy Corbyn. She served two terms as shadow secretary of state for Wales (October 2016 – January 2017 and November 2021 – May 2024), and was shadow secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport (April 2020 – November 2021).

Previously, Stevens was shadow solicitor general and a shadow justice minister from January to October 2016.

In January 2017, Stevens resigned from the shadow cabinet, maintaining she could not reconcile herself to the leadership’s three-line whip to vote for the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. This 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. Stevens voted against the bill, defying the party whip – one of 47 Labour MPs to do so.

In her resignation letter, addressed to Corbyn, Stevens described herself as “a passionate European”.

She wrote: “I expect this to be the most important vote I will ever cast as an MP and for me it is a clear issue of principle and conscience. When I vote I will be representing my constituents, a great many of whom, including a great many Labour party members and voters, have strongly urged me to vote in this way.

“That is why, in shadow cabinet, I argued against the imposition of a three-line whip.”

Stevens was a member of the House of Commons European statutory instruments committee (2018-2022), the culture, media and sport committee (2017-2020), the justice committee (2017), the committees on standards and privileges (2015-2016), and the business, innovation and skills committee (2015-2016).

Stevens delivered her maiden speech on 4 June 2015 during a debate on the economy.

In it, she said: “In Cardiff Central, people have not felt an economic recovery. Many experience a recovery that is fragile because it is built on low-paid, insecure work. Many of my constituents work in the retail, care and hospitality sectors where insecure employment, zero-hours contracts and minimum wage work is the norm.”

She added: “I campaigned on the need to tackle inequality head on – wealth inequality, social inequality and tax inequality. I will continue that campaign and be a strong voice for all the people of Cardiff Central.”

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour leadership 2020: Stevens 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.

Labour leadership 2015: Stevens was one of 68 Labour MPs who nominated Andy Burnham for the party’s leadership in June 2015. The election followed the resignation of Ed Miliband after the party’s defeat in the 2015 general election. It was the first contest held under the “one member, one vote” system, which replaced the previous electoral college.

Burnham, the shadow health secretary, was initially considered the frontrunner. He secured 68 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), comfortably exceeding the 35 required to reach the final ballot. He ultimately finished second in the contest with 19% of the vote, losing to Jeremy Corbyn in the first round.

Corbyn loyalty list: In March 2016, Stevens was labelled as “core group plus” by the Corbyn leadership in a leaked list which categorised Labour MPs by their perceived loyalty. This label suggested the Corbyn leadership viewed Stevens as a reliable supporter.

Labour leadership 2016: Stevens was one of 162 Labour MPs who nominated Owen Smith for the party’s leadership in July 2016. The election was triggered by a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn following the EU referendum, which led to a wave of shadow cabinet resignations and a vote of no confidence supported by 172 MPs. Smith, the former shadow work and pensions secretary, was ultimately defeated by Corbyn, who won with an increased mandate of 61.8% of the vote.

Factional identity and party tradition

Tribune group (2017): Stevens was listed as a member of the Tribune steering group – responsible for leading the caucus generally described as representing the party’s “soft left”.

The Tribune group was initially formed in 1964 to support the newspaper of the same name. It served as a prominent forum for those parliamentarians situated on the left of the Labour Party – but it split over Tony Benn’s campaign for the deputy leadership in 1981. Benn’s supporters founded the Campaign group – which evolved into the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG). Today, the Bennite SCG is strongly associated with the Labour left tradition.

During the 1980s, the Tribune group emerged as a more natural home for those on Labour’s “soft left”.

In 2017, Efford officially re-launched the group with a new mission statement calling for “opportunity and aspiration” to be placed at the heart of the party’s programme. Efford said he had reformed the group to ensure that the centre-left of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) “have a space in which to put forward ideas and debate which has not been there under successive leaders”.

He added: “The view of Labour MPs at the moment tends to be that too much are just Blairites who want to stab Jeremy Corbyn in the back. We want to show that is not where we are, and that we want to develop our own ideas that represent the centre-left of the party.”

Leader of the left letter: In May 2015, Stevens was among 10 newly elected Labour MPs who penned an open letter calling on the party to embrace a decisive break from New Labour. In the letter, the MPs called for a leader who will “challenge an agenda of cuts, take on the powerful vested interests of big business and will set out an alternative to austerity.”

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Stevens supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore agreed with a majority of her constituents, 68% of whom also voted to Remain.

People’s vote support (2019): Stevens signed a January 2019 statement by Labour MPs calling for a “people’s vote” or second referendum. The statement, signed by 71 Labour MPs, read: “Defeat of the Tory [Brexit] deal in a public vote would give us all a chance to campaign for the anti-austerity policies and a Labour government that deals with the true causes of the Brexit vote, and a reformed Europe that works for all people.”

Remain pledge: During the 2019 general election campaign, Stevens 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

Welfare vote (July 2025): Stevens 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.

Welfare vote (July 2015): Alongside almost one quarter of her colleagues, Stevens 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

Stevens 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).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Stevens 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.

Foreign policy and security

Trident renewal (2016): Stevens 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): Stevens 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.

Before Politics

Born Joanna Meriel Stevens in Swansea on 6 September 1966, she grew up in Mynydd Isa, Flintshire, North Wales. She attended Argoed High School and Elfed High School.

She studied law at the University of Manchester and completed the Solicitors’ Professional Examination at Manchester Polytechnic in 1989.

Before becoming an MP, Stevens worked as a solicitor specialising in trade union law and personal injury cases. She became a director at Thompsons Solicitors.

Personal Life

Stevens has two grown-up children.

In January 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Stevens was treated in hospital after contracting the virus.

A statement posted to Stevens’ Twitter (now X) account said: “Jo has asked us to let you know that she is being treated in hospital for Covid. Thanks for all your good wishes we will give an update when we can.”