Josh Newbury is the Labour MP for Cannock Chase, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Newbury won 15,671 votes, representing 36.5% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Amanda Milling, received 12,546 votes (29.2%), while the Reform UK candidate, Paul Allen, secured 11,570 votes (26.9%). Newbury was duly elected with a majority of 3,125 votes, gaining the seat for Labour from the Conservatives.

The Cannock Chase constituency is located in Staffordshire, in the West Midlands. It was held by the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2024, and before that by the Labour Party from 1997 to 2010.

Political Career

Newbury is a member of the House of Commons environment, food and rural affairs select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for scrutinising the work of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It looks at issues from farming to the water sector to a circular economy.

In May 2026, Newbury 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.”

In February 2026, Newbury appeared to express reservations about the government’s proposed overhaul of indefinite leave to remain (ILR) guidelines in a Westminster Hall debate. The session, which was triggered by two public petitions signed by over 330,000 people, focused on Home Office proposals to replace the established five-year pathway to permanent residency (also known as indefinite leave to remain or settlement) with a 10-year baseline under an “earned settlement” model.

In the debate, Newbury questioned whether “those who demonstrate a long-term commitment to care work and continued professional development have access to quicker settlement.”

Referring to representations made by his constituents, Newbury added: “The issue I heard about loudest, though, was the need for transitional arrangements.

“People have understandably planned their lives around the expectation of ILR after five years, so I hope that the minister can give us some clarity on when we will know what the arrangements will be.”

In November 2025, Newbury led a House of Commons debate on International Men’s Day, expressing support “for a serious national conversation about men’s health, men’s wellbeing and modern masculinity.” He called for an end to the stigma around being a victim of sexual assault, revealing that he had was raped after a night several years before entering parliament.

Newbury told the House: “One taboo that I believe still persists among men is being the victim of sexual harassment and assault. Breaking the silence can mean those of us in privileged positions telling our stories, so here is mine.”

In June 2025, Newbury was one of 22 newly elected Labour MPs who co-signed a letter to the leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) calling for improved paternity leave for parliamentary staff. The letter, organised in collaboration with the campaign group The Dad Shift, argued that the current provision of two weeks’ paid leave was “unfair” and left parliament trailing behind leading private and public sector employers.

The letter said current rules meant MPs were “unable to support our staff appropriately at some of the most important times of their lives”.

They added: “Dads in our offices get just two weeks off, a situation that is unfair and puts parliament many steps behind top employers across the country.”

In response, a government spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “We are committed to making sure parents receive the best possible support to balance their work and home lives as part of our Plan to Make Work Pay.”

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

Newbury is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for UK food security (chair), public secretary efficiency (chair), access to disability equipment, carbon capture, utilisation and storage, and energy studies.

Newbury delivered his maiden speech on 11 November 2024 during a debate on rural affairs.

In it, he said: “For me personally, it is momentous to be standing here, because 20 years ago I was a painfully shy young boy in the corner of the playground with my head buried in a book, trying as hard as I could to be invisible to the bullies who tormented me for a sexuality that, at that age, I did not yet understand.

“Today, I stand here proudly as a member of this House.

“If I achieve just one thing in my new job, I hope it is to show young people who are in the position that I was in that your bullies do not define you, nor do they limit what you go on to achieve.”

He added: “As a proud member of the Co-operative party, I am always keen to promote democratic ownership. Communities in rural and coalfield areas know more than most the value of clubbing together and giving everyone a stake in the places and services that they rely on.”

Before entering parliament, Newbury was elected as a Labour councillor on Cannock Chase District Council in 2019. He served for a period as deputy leader and stood down as a councillor in 2025.

Political Views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Newbury 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 Rural Research Group: Newbury has been listed as a member of the Labour Rural Research Group (LRRG) – a caucus made up of MPs representing Labour’s so-called “rural wall”. Launched in August 2025, the group’s primary aim is to ensure that policy is developed with a clear understanding of the distinct challenges and priorities of rural and semi-rural communities.

The LRRG, chaired by the Suffolk Coastal MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, conducts research and consultations to challenge what it sees as a “rural blind spot” in Whitehall.

Its first report, “Understanding Rural Britain”, surveyed voters on issues from healthcare and the economy to housing and the environment, seeking to build an evidence-based policy platform. The survey found nearly three quarters (74.4%) of respondents believe rural communities had been overlooked over the past 15 years. On the back of the report, Riddell-Carpenter stated that labelling rural voters as Nimbys (not in my back yard) was “toxic” and maintained “many people rightly despise the term”.

Fair elections APPG: Newbury is listed as a supporter of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for fair elections – a cross-party group of MPs and peers that campaigns for electoral reform. The group’s stated aims include replacing the first past the post (FPTP) voting system with a form of proportional representation, eliminating “dark money” and “undemocratic influence” from politics, and countering disinformation.

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Newbury 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. 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Newbury was one of three Labour MPs to vote against the bill.

Welfare

Welfare ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Newbury was one of the over 120 Labour MPs to sign the reasoned amendment to the government’s flagship welfare bill which aimed to reject the proposed legislation.

The amendment, in the name of senior Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, objected to the fact that the bill had not been subject to a “formal consultation with disabled people” and that “250,000 people will be pushed into poverty” as a result of it, according to a government impact assessment.

The motion also called on the government to wait for the publication of the review into the Personal Independence Payment (Pip), helmed by minister Sir Stephen Timms, and the independent review, conducted by Sir Charlie Mayfield, into how the employment of disabled people could be boosted.

Welfare vote (July 2025): Newbury 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

Newbury 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): Newbury 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, Newbury 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

Newbury previously worked in the healthcare and energy sectors.

Personal Life

Newbury is married and has two children.

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

In his 2024 maiden speech, Newbury told the House: “Alongside my incredible husband, I am an adoptive parent to a beautiful four-year-old daughter, and foster carer to an equally beautiful nine-week-old baby boy, so adoption, permanence and our care leavers are all passions of mine.”

Trivia

Newbury is a member of the Labour Rural Research Group (LRRG).