Lewis Atkinson is the Labour Party MP for Sunderland Central, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Atkinson won 16,852 votes, representing 42.2% of the vote. The Reform UK candidate, Chris Enyon, received 10,779 votes (27.0%), while the Conservative candidate, Greg Peacock, secured 5,731 votes (14.3%). Atkinson was duly elected with a majority of 6,073.

The Sunderland Central constituency is located in the county of Tyne and Wear. The seat was created in 2010 and has been held by the Labour Party since its creation. Atkinson’s immediate predecessor was Julie Elliott of the Labour Party, who stood down at the 2024 election.

Political Career

Atkinson is a member of the House of Commons home affairs select committee (since October 2025) – the committee responsible for scrutinising the work of the Home Office and its associated bodies. It examines government policy, spending and the law in areas including immigration, security and policing.

Atkinson is also a member of the House of Commons petitions committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for considering e-petitions submitted on parliament’s petitions website and public (paper) petitions presented to the commons.

In April 2026, Atkinson defended the prime minister, Keir Starmer, and did not support an opposition motion calling for a commons privileges committee investigation into him over the Peter Mandelson affair.

Atkinson commented at the time: “Peter Mandelson should never have been appointed as ambassador [to the United States]. The prime minister has rightly apologised for his mistaken decision to do that.

“There are already two parliamentary processes scrutinising this: the foreign affairs select committee and the publication of all documents overseen by the intelligence and security committee. I support those investigations.

“Yesterday’s vote was a political stunt tried on by the Tories nine days before the local elections.

“They have spent more parliamentary time on this than on the cost of living, improving the NHS, or tackling antisocial behaviour. Those are my priorities, not party political stunts.”

In February 2026, Atkinson expressed 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, Atkinson said the plans risked “undermining the integration that I see in workplaces, churches and community groups in Sunderland.”

Atkinson was a member of the public bill committee for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill from January 2025 to March 2025.

Atkinson delivered his maiden speech on 5 November 2024 during a debate on the budget.

In it, he said: “Working-class communities have always feared illness and injury, not just in its own right but because the resulting inability to work was disastrous for family finances. The introduction of the NHS and national insurance by the Attlee government was intended to protect against such calamities.

“We have important work to do to repair and renew those civilising protections today.”

He added: “The link between inequalities of health, wealth and power has been impressed upon me by the privilege of working for two decades in NHS North East.

“Whether managing dentistry, mental health or cancer services, I saw at first hand how the poorest generally experience the poorest health outcomes. I intend to spend some of my time in this place working to right that situation.”

Prior to entering parliament, Atkinson ran for a place on Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) in 2012. He was shortlisted for the South Shields parliamentary selection in 2013 but was not selected.

In 2012, during the NEC election campaign, Atkinson wrote: “This disgraceful government [under David Cameron as prime minister] is failing every part of the country, and our united priority must be its defeat. We can do this by working as a broad Labour movement, bringing the talents of every member, elected representative, trade unionist and socialist society together in common cause.”

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Atkinson 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

Living Standards Coalition: Atkinson is a member of the Living Standards Coalition. Established in July 2025, the group’s stated aim was to develop and promote policy ideas that directly reduce everyday costs for households, particularly in areas such as food, energy, housing and childcare. In an open letter published upon its founding, addressed to Keir Starmer, the MPs wrote: “Our constituents will ask one question at the next election: did this Labour government make me better off?”

They added: “To raise living standards, we support government interventions that will help to increase incomes and lower costs.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Atkinson 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

Atkinson 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).

In a March 2025 piece for Prospect, Atkinson set out his position.

He wrote: “I value good law: rooted in expertise, guided by compassion and designed to serve and protect those it governs.

“That is the approach taken by the cross-party committee of MPs examining Kim Leadbeater MP’s assisted dying bill, of which I’m honoured to be a member, as we continue our scrutiny of each clause and amendment. As a former NHS manager, I am more convinced than ever that we can craft the strongest, safest assisted dying law in the world for England and Wales.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Atkinson 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

Lewis Malcolm Atkinson was born in the early 1980s in South Shields, he grew up in South Tyneside.

Atkinson studied philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Wadham College, Oxford. He later earned a master’s degree in healthcare leadership and management from the University of Birmingham.

Atkinson previously worked as an NHS manager (from 2005).

Personal Life

Atkinson is divorced and has two children.

Trivia

Atkinson worked briefly at HM Treasury in the health team before starting his career in NHS management.