Sadik Al-Hassan

MP for North Somerset

Labour

Sadik Al-Hassan is the Labour Party MP for North Somerset, and was first elected at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 election for the North Somerset constituency, Al-Hassan won 19,138 votes, representing 35.6% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Liam Fox, received 18,499 votes (34.4%), while the Liberal Democrat candidate, Ash Cartman, secured 7,121 votes (13.2%). Al-Hassan was duly elected with a majority of 639.

The North Somerset constituency was created in its current form in 2010, largely succeeding the Woodspring constituency. The area had been represented by Conservative MPs continuously since 1950 (under various predecessor seat names including Woodspring) until the 2024 election.

The immediate predecessor MP was Liam Fox of the Conservative Party, who had represented Woodspring and then North Somerset since 1992 and previously served as secretary of state for defence.

Political Career

Al-Hassan is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for assistive and accessible technology, Beyond Pills, Iraq (chair), life sciences, the National Trust (chair) and pharmacy (chair).

Al-Hassan was a member of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill public bill committee (2025).

Al-Hassan delivered his maiden speech on 4 November 2024 during a debate on income tax.

In it, he said: “As a pharmacist, I campaigned on a platform of rebuilding the NHS. Having worked in pharmacies across the area over the past two decades, I have seen at first hand the decline of community pharmacies in many towns across the country.”

He added: “That is why I was proud to see in the budget such a strong commitment from [the chancellor, Rachel Reeves] to rebuilding our NHS, with the largest increase in funding – outside the pandemic – since 2010.

“No one on the Labour benches doubts the enormity of the task ahead, or the challenges that we may encounter along the way, but the chancellor has put us on a road to renewal with this [autumn] budget, and I am sure that many of my colleagues in the healthcare sector will be grateful to her for that.”

Before entering parliament, Al-Hassan served as a councillor on Emersons Green Town Council (2018-2023), including as deputy mayor (2019-2022).

Al-Hassan stood unsuccessfully as a Labour candidate for the South West England region in the 2019 European Parliament elections..

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Al-Hassan 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

Labour Rural Research Group: Al-Hassan 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”. 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 using the labelling rural voters as Nimbys (not in my back yard) was “toxic” and maintained “many people rightly despise the term”.

Usdaw: Al-Hassan is a member of the Usdaw Union Parliamentary Group – a group of MPs who are members of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) and work generally to represent the union’s interests within parliament.

Brexit and Europe

Al-Hassan has expressed opposition to Brexit. In his 2024 maiden speech, Al-Hassan paid tribute to his predecessor as the MP for North Somerset, prominent Brexiteer Liam Fox – but added that he did not “share [Fox’s] views” on Europe.

Speaking in a May 2025 Westminster Hall debate on the UK-EU summit, Al-Hassan described Brexit as a case of “buyers’ remorse”.

He stated: “Whatever way we voted in the referendum, it is fair to say that Brexit has increasingly become a case of buyers’ remorse, with many of us wishing we had kept the receipt. I applaud my colleagues and friends in the government for finally getting the ball rolling. Like many of my constituents, I eagerly await the details of what will come next.”

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1277591280595572

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Al-Hassan voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-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. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Electoral reform

Fair elections APPG: Al-Hassan 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.

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Al-Hassan voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Welfare

Welfare ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Al-Hassan 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): Al-Hassan 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

Al-Hassan 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 November 2024, Al-Hassan, a pharmacist, joined a cross-party group of MPs with medical backgrounds in publicly calling for colleagues to support the assisted dying bill.

The letter stated that medics had for too long “been caught between the law… and our compassionate care for patients” and that the bill represented a “once in a generation opportunity” to update legislation.

It said: “Many of us have extensive experience in palliative and terminal care and we have been aware for many years of the awful dilemma put before patients and clinicians in the last days of life…

“This parliament has a once in a generation opportunity to bring the laws around assisted dying up to date, ensuring they are fit for purpose. We appreciate that many feel uncomfortable about the subject and understand their concerns.

“However, we also have a responsibility to reflect the current mood in the population, and more importantly, be brave enough to change the law in this difficult area for the benefit of patients.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Al-Hassan 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.

Social media ban: In January 2026, Al-Hassan was one of over 60 Labour MPs to sign a letter to the prime minister calling for the introduction of an Australia-style ban on social media access for children under the age of 16. Organised by Plymouth Moor View MP Fred Thomas, the initiative brought together a cross-factional coalition of backbenchers – spanning the Socialist Campaign Group, Tribune Group and Blue Labour – to demand action.

The letter called on Keir Starmer to “show leadership” by introducing a minimum age for social media access “to protect young people from the consequences of unregulated, addictive social media platforms”.

It stated: “We are all strong supporters of technology, and of this Labour government’s ambition to use tech to improve lives. But successive governments have done far too little to protect young people from the consequences of unregulated, addictive social media platforms.”

Lying amendment: Also in January 2026, Al-Hassan was listed as a supporter of an amendment to the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, often referred to as the “Hillsborough Law”, that would extend the proposed criminal offence of misleading the public to include MPs and peers. Luke Myer, the Labour MP behind the proposal, argued that his amendment would mean “no-one in parliament would be above the law”, adding: “If politicians deliberately lie to the public, there should be consequences.”

Myer stated: “This amendment is a proportionate, carefully safeguarded response to a real democratic risk. It is not about stifling debate or political disagreement, it is about ensuring that those who seek or hold public office cannot deliberately and knowingly mislead the public without consequence.

“The polling shows that voters across the political spectrum expect parliament to act.”

Myer’s amendment won the support of 30 cross-party MPs.

Before Politics

Born Sadik Adam Al-Hassan on 17 December 1984, he is of Iraqi (father) and Irish (mother) heritage. His father moved to the UK in the 1970s and worked as a civil servant.

Al-Hassan attended Calday Grange Grammar School and graduated from the University of Bath in 2007.

He worked as a pharmacist, initially as a store manager for Boots on the Wirral for three years. He then worked for Well Pharmacy for over seven years in roles including branch manager and area operations manager.

He was the superintendent pharmacist for the online pharmacy PillTime.

Personal Life

Al-Hassan is married and has two children.

In his 2024 maiden speech, he joked: “I first got into politics as a town councillor in Emersons Green, only for my wife to become a district councillor shortly thereafter. Now that I am an MP, I dread to think how she will one-up me this time.”

Al-Hassan is one of 18 Labour Muslim MPs elected in 2024.