Liz Twist is the Labour MP for Blaydon and Consett, having first been elected to parliament for the predecessor seat of Blaydon at the 2017 general election.  

In the 2024 general election, Twist won 21,160 votes, representing 50.1% of the vote. The Reform UK candidate, David Ayre, received 10,007 votes (23.7%), while the Conservative candidate, Angela Sterling, secured 6,052 votes (14.3%). Twist was duly elected with a majority of 11,153 votes.  

The Blaydon and Consett constituency was newly created for the 2024 election, formed from parts of the abolished Blaydon and North West Durham seats. It includes towns such as Blaydon, Consett, and Ryton. The area is considered a safe Labour seat, having been represented by Labour MPs since 1935.

Political Career

Twist served as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the prime minister from July 2024 to September 2025 alongside Chris Ward.

In October 2024, Twist stood down as chair of Age UK Gateshead after voting in favour of cuts to the winter fuel payment.

In a statement explaining her decision, Twist said: “I have done this because of the consistent pressure being placed on the charity by a number of people.

“Age UK Gateshead is an amazing charity which does a huge amount of good work right across the borough of Gateshead and I have been proud to support the charity over many years in its work in practical ways as well as its chair. It is important to all of us that their work is able to continue.”

Previously, she served as shadow minister for local government and services (November 2023 – July 2024), shadow minister for Scotland (December 2021 – September 2023), and opposition whip (February 2020 – September 2023).

Twist was a member of the House of Commons procedure committee (2020-2024), the Scottish affairs committee (2020-2023), the petitions committee (2017-2019), the housing, communities and local government committee (2017-2019), and the committees on standards and privileges (2019).

Twist is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for respiratory health and suicide and self-harm prevention.

Twist delivered her maiden speech on 20 July 2017 during a debate on tuition fees.

In it, she said: “All of us come to this House with not just a passion for politics, but a personal history that influences the issues we care about, and I want to share a little of mine. Seventeen years ago, my husband, Charlie, ended his life by suicide. Many of you in this House will have been affected by suicide, but you only find out how many others have been affected when it happens to you.

“I do not ask for sympathy; I ask for your support for action to reduce the number of people who take their lives. I am glad to be a Samaritans listening volunteer, but we need deeds as well as words to prevent suicide.”

She added: “In March, Samaritans produced a report, ‘Dying from inequality’. To put it bluntly, a rigorous academic study has shown that suicide risk increases when people face unemployment, job uncertainty and poverty. These are the very problems faced by the constituents I have talked about and by many others…

“I give notice that I will be pressing the secretary of state for health and other government ministers to take real action to tackle the causes that lead to too many people taking their own life.”

Before entering parliament, Twist served on Gateshead Council from 2012 to 2018.

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Oppose leadership election: In May 2026, Twist 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.”

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Twist 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.

Labour leadership 2020: Twist was one of 22 Labour MPs who nominated Emily Thornberry 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.

Thornberry, then the shadow foreign secretary, was one of five candidates to reach the second stage of the contest. However, she was eliminated from the race on 15 February 2020 after failing to secure the required 33 nominations from Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) or three affiliated groups. This left Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey, and Lisa Nandy as the three candidates on the final membership ballot.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Twist supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore disagreed with a majority of her constituents, 56.1% of whom voted to Leave.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Twist 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

Twist 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): Twist 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

Sanctioned (Russia): In April 2022, Twist was among the group of MPs placed on a sanctions list by the Russian government. The measure barred them from entering Russia and was presented by Moscow as a retaliatory response to the UK’s stance on the invasion of Ukraine.

Before Politics

Born Mary Elizabeth Twist in St Helens, Lancashire on 10 July 1956. Her grandfather was active in the National Union of Mineworkers.  

She attended Notre Dame High School in St Helens and studied at Aberystwyth University.

Twist worked as a local government archivist before becoming a trade union official for Unison, serving as head of health for the North East region.

Before entering parliament, Twist worked as a case worker in the office of Dave Anderson, the former MP for Blaydon.

Personal Life

Twist was married to Charlie Dix until his death by suicide in 2000.

She has volunteered as a listener for the charity Samaritans.

Trivia

Twist has said her grandfather’s activism in the National Union of Mineworkers inspired her interest in politics.