Kevin Bonavia is the Labour Party MP for Stevenage, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Bonavia won 17,698 votes, representing 41.4% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Alex Clarkson, received 11,080 votes (25.9%), while the Reform UK candidate, Peter Hopper, secured 7,667 votes (17.9%). Bonavia was duly elected with a majority of 6,618

The Stevenage constituency is located in Hertfordshire, East of England. The seat has historically been considered a bellwether. It has been held by the party that formed the government at every general election since its creation.

Bonavia’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Stevenage was Stephen McPartland of the Conservative Party.

Political Career

Bonavia serves as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Attorney General’s Office (since December 2024). A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs. The role is widely regarded as the first step on the ministerial ladder. Although they cannot speak for the government in debates, a PPS is bound by collective responsibility and becomes part of the so-called “payroll vote”, expected to support the official line in all divisions.

In May 2026, Bonavia 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.”

Bonavia served on the House of Commons petitions committee from October 2024 to January 2025.

In November 2025, Bonavia was one of 34 cross-party MPs and peers who signed a letter to Ofcom demanding an investigation into the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The letter, led by Joani Reid, chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on antisemitism, called on the regulator to determine whether the platform was in breach of its legal duties under the Online Safety Act following a reported surge in antisemitic content and calls for violence against Jews on X.

Bonavia is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for Malta (chair).

Bonavia delivered his maiden speech on 29 July 2024 in a debate about the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill.

In it, he said: “Stevenage itself is a trailblazer town, the UK’s very first new town, created by the transformative Labour government of 1945 to deal with the last great housing emergency after the second world war. It was built around the old town of Stevenage, which made its name many centuries ago as the first staging post on the Great North road from London to Edinburgh.”

He added: “From a young age, my mum and dad instilled in me that, if you see a problem, you roll up your sleeves and you fix it. Since then, I have done just that. I have worked as a solicitor, getting justice for victims of the phone hacking scandal.

“I also served for over a decade as a councillor and an armed forces champion, helping residents with their problems and focusing on the needs of veterans. As someone who came to this country as a little boy, I have also campaigned for the welfare of child refugees, who have never had the luck and support that I had.”

Before entering parliament, Bonavia served as a Labour councillor Lewisham London Borough Council from May 2010 until May 2022.

Bonavia previously stood unsuccessfully as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Rochford and Southend East in 2010 (coming second to Conservative candidate James Duddridge) and for Clacton in 2019 (coming second to Conservative candidate Giles Watling).

Bonavia was chair of the Young Fabians from 2004 to 2005.

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Bonavia 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 Friends of Nato: Bonavia is a patron of Labour Friends of Nato (LFN), a parliamentary network and pressure group established in January 2026 to reinforce the Labour Party’s commitment to the Atlantic alliance. According to a LabourList report, the group seeks to deepen understanding of Nato’s strategic role among MPs and party activists. It also seeks to provide a platform to rebut political arguments from both the left and right that seek to diminish Britain’s involvement in the treaty.

The formation of the network was framed by its founders as a return to the post-war traditions of the Clement Attlee government, which helped establish the alliance.

The group set up with plans to organise fact-finding missions to Nato’s military and political headquarters in Brussels, and host an annual lecture in honour of Ernest Bevin, the former foreign secretary and Nato treaty signatory.

SERA: Bonavia has been listed as a member of the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA) – a socialist society affiliated with the Labour Party. Founded in 1973, SERA is the party’s official environmental campaign group. The organisation campaigns on a wide range of issues, including renewable energy, biodiversity, air quality and the transition to a green economy. SERA describes its member MPs as “champions for the environment”.

Labour Movement for Europe: Bonavia was endorsed by the Labour Movement for Europe (LME) in the 2024 general election. Founded in 1981, LME is a pro-European socialist society affiliated with the Labour Party. It campaigns for a close relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. The organisation refers to itself as the “home of the pro-Europeans in the Labour and trade union movement”.

Fair elections APPG: Bonavia is listed as a member 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

Remain pledge: During the 2019 general election campaign, Bonavia 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): Bonavia 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

Bonavia 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): Bonavia 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 in Rabat, Malta, Bonavia moved to England aged eight.

He attended Eltham College on a bursary and graduated from the University of Birmingham with a degree in history. He subsequently completed a postgraduate degree at the University of Law.

After leaving university, Bonavia worked as a solicitor. He worked at the law firm Steel & Shamash, where he acted for the Labour Party and candidates on electoral law issues during the 2005 general election campaign.

Personal Life

Bonavia’s father is Maltese and his mother is Scottish.

Trivia

Bonavia shares a birthday with his predecessor as the MP for Stevenage, Stephen McPartland.

He told the commons in his 2024 maiden speech: “I am not sure how much I have in common with him, apart from our shared birthday and our height – or lack of”.