Phil Brickell is the Labour MP for Bolton West, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Brickell won 17,363 votes, representing 38.9% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Chris Green, received 12,418 votes (27.8%), while the Reform UK candidate, Dylan Evans, secured 8,517 votes (19.1%). Brickell was duly elected with a majority of 4,945.

The Bolton West constituency is located in Greater Manchester, North West England.

Historically, the seat has been marginal. It was held by Labour (1997-2015). Chris Green, Brickell’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Bolton West, represented the seat from 2015 to 2024.

Political Career

Brickell served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Ministry of Justice from March to July 2026. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs.

Brickell left government as part of the July 2026 reshuffle conducted by Andy Burnham upon his appointment as prime minister.

In May 2026, Brickell 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.”

Brickell was appointed as a government “business champion” for finance in the North West – a role established in February 2025 to facilitate engagement between the Labour administration and the private sector. The position was part of a network of approximately 40 MPs appointed by the Department for Business and Trade to act as conduits for industry views on government policy. The grouping operated under the oversight of Dan Tomlinson, the national “mission champion” for growth.

The selection of champions was designed to leverage the professional expertise of the 2024 intake of MPs, and the role was seen as an early step on the Westminster ladder. However, the scheme was reportedly scrapped in July 2025 following a meeting at 10 Downing Street. According to a Guido Fawkes report, the business champions were told that their services were no longer required.

Brickell was appointed as a member of the United Kingdom delegation to the Nato parliamentary assembly (Nato PA) by the prime minister in November 2024. The delegation serves as a consultative link between the UK parliament and Nato. The assembly brings together legislators from all 32 member states to debate and provide oversight on security and defence policy. The party distribution of the delegation is intended to reflect the composition of the House of Commons.

In April 2025, Brickell 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.

At the time, Brickell responded: “I’ve been to Ukraine, I’ve seen the death and destruction Putin has wrought there over the last three years. So if he thinks that sanctioning myself and colleagues will get us to shut up, he has another thing coming.

“Putin and his cronies must pay for the crimes they have committed. Slava Ukraini.”

Brickell has served as a member of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee (2024 – 2026) and finance committee (2024 – 2025).

Brickell is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for anti-corruption and responsible tax (chair), Russia and Democracy, Germany, Magnitsky sanctions and reparations, and outdoor recreation and access to nature.

Brickell delivered his maiden speech on 12 September 2024.

In it, he said: “The recent general election campaign spoke to many of my constituents’ concerns: the state of the local NHS; the reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete found in our local hospital and schools; the 8 am scramble each morning to obtain a GP appointment; spiralling housing costs; the need for better, well-paid jobs in the local area; better integrated transport that is both reliable and affordable; and effective policing that prevents individuals from falling into a life of crime, tackles repeat offending and ensures that local people feel safe in their neighbourhood.

He added: “My father was a soldier in the Royal Artillery, stationed in Germany, Northern Ireland, Canada and Cyprus, before going on to work as a paramedic in Bolton and then as a carer on the minimum wage; and my mother worked in the women’s health department at the Royal Bolton hospital for more than 30 years.

“Indeed, my first job was at the Bolton hospital, before I went on to spend more than a decade tackling serious financial crime – bribery, corruption, money laundering and the facilitation of tax evasion. Let us not forget that four out of 10 victims of crime are victims of fraud, often online.”

Prior to becoming an MP, Brickell served as a Labour councillor on Manchester City Council from 2023 to 2024.

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Brickell was one of 117 Labour MPs who nominated Lucy Powell 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.

Powell, the former leader of the House of Commons, was seen as a candidate representing the party’s “soft left”; she was supported by leading soft left figures including Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham. She secured 117 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), above the 80 required, and went on to win the election – defeating Bridget Phillipson with 54.3% of the vote.

Factional identity and party tradition

Living Standards Coalition: Brickell 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.”

Labour Movement for Europe: Brickell 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: Brickell has been 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.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Brickell 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

Brickell 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): Brickell 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

IPAC: Brickell is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) – an international, cross-party network of legislators from democratic countries focused on relations with the People’s Republic of China. The alliance, established on 4 June 2020, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, was formed to unite “lawmakers worldwide, promoting democracy and addressing threats to the rules-based and human rights systems posed by the rise of China.”

Before Politics

Born in Bolton, Greater Manchester, Brickell grew up in the 1980s and attended Bolton School.

He studied law at Durham University, which included a year abroad at the University of Hanover, Germany.

After university, Brickell’s first job was working in the medical records department at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

From 2009, Brickell worked in the financial services industry, specialising in financial crime prevention.

Brickell was head of anti-bribery and corruption at Barclays UK from 2021 to 2022. Overall, he worked at Barclays for seven years. He subsequently worked as head of anti-bribery and corruption controls optimisation at the NatWest Group.

Personal Life

Brickell’s father worked as a soldier and paramedic. He married Emma Taylor, who has also served on Manchester City Council, in 2022.

Trivia

Brickell enjoys kayaking.