Alex Cunningham

For other people named Alexander Cunningham, see Alexander Cunningham (disambiguation).

Evaline

​

(m. 1977)​

Alex Cunningham
Official portrait, 2017
Shadow Minister for Courts and Legal Services
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 April 2020
Children	2
Alma mater	Darlington Technical College
Occupation	Politician journalist
Website	Official website

Alexander Cunningham ^[1] (born 1 May 1955) ^[2] is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stockton North from 2010 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Shadow Minister for Courts and Sentencing since 2020.

Born in Scotland and raised in Darlington, Cunningham began his career as a journalist in Teesside and later worked as a private sector communications officer in the region. He served on Cleveland County Council from 1984 to 1997 and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council from 1999 to 2010, where he was a member of the council's executive.

Elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election, he deselected long serving incumbent MP Frank Cook to become the Labour candidate. Cunningham joined the opposition front bench as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sadiq Khan, Shadow Justice Secretary, and became Shadow Natural Environment Minister in 2015. He resigned in 2016 due to a lack of confidence in Jeremy Corbyn's party leadership, but rejoined as Shadow Pensions Minister later in the year. Resigning from the front bench for the second time in 2017, to vote against the Labour whip on Brexit, he spent two years as backbencher before his appointment as a Shadow Housing Minister in 2019.

Early life and career

Cunningham was born in Harthill, Scotland and moved to Darlington, County Durham at a young age. He was educated at Branksome Comprehensive School and the Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College. Cunningham later attended Darlington Technical College, where he was awarded a certificate in journalism in 1976. ^[3]

Beginning his career as journalist, he joined the Darlington & Stockton Times in 1974, moved to the Hartlepool Mail in 1976 and joined Radio Tees a year later. Cunningham's began working at The Evening Gazette in 1979, where he remained for five years until he became a press officer at British Gas. In 1995, he joined Transco (later National Grid) as a communications adviser, and was promoted to head of communications after five years. He left this job in 2002, later becoming managing director of Tees Valley Communicators.

Political career

Cunningham was elected as a Member of Cleveland County Council in 1984, later becoming the vice-chairman of the education committee and serving on the council until 1997. He joined the Co-operative Party in 1986.

He served on Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council from 1999 until his election to Parliament in 2010, and was Cabinet Member for Children and Young People. ^[4] Active in the Stockton North Constituency Labour Party, he was press officer from 1984 to 2010, vice chairman and secretary from 1985 to 1995, and chair from 1995 to 2000. ^[5]

Cunningham was selected as the Labour candidate for Stockton North in January 2008, successfully challenging long-serving incumbent MP Frank Cook in a mandatory re-selection. ^[6] Upon his selection, he commented that members "wanted change" and "a person who lived in the area for most of their life". ^[6]

Parliamentary career

Cunningham was elected as MP for Stockton North at the 2010 general election, despite his majority being halved compared to the previous election. His predecessor Frank Cook unsuccessfully stood as an independent candidate, losing his deposit. He backed David Miliband in the 2010 Labour leadership election. ^[7]

He was a member of the Work and Pensions Committee from 2010 to 2011, Education Committee from 2011 to 2015 and Environmental Audit Committee in 2019. Cunningham has sat on committees scrutinising the Armed Forces Act 2011 whilst it was a bill, ^[8] as well as the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and Judicial Review and Courts Bill.

Cunningham joined Ed Miliband's opposition front bench upon his appointment as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sadiq Khan, the Shadow Justice Secretary. Cunningham was re-elected with an increased majority in 2015, and nominated Andy Burnham and Caroline Flint in the 2015 Labour leadership and Deputy Leadership elections. ^{[9] [10]}

He was promoted to a shadow ministerial post following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader, becoming Shadow Minister for the Natural Environment in September 2015. Cunningham resigned from the front bench in June 2016, alongside a many of his colleagues, after losing confidence in Corbyn's leadership. He supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace him in the 2016 Labour leadership election. ^[11]

He re-joined the opposition front bench in October 2016 as Shadow Minister for Pensions, and was an re-elected in 2017 with an increased vote share but a swing towards the Conservatives. ^[12] Cunningham resigned as a shadow minister in December 2017 after voting against the Labour whip, supporting an amendment to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill proposing remaining in the customs union. ^[13] In November 2018, he wrote an article alongside other North-East Labour MPs backing a second referendum on EU membership. ^[14] He became a shadow minister once again in April 2019 as a Shadow Minister for Housing. ^[15]

Cunningham was re-elected at the 2019 general election with a significantly reduced majority. ^[16] He endorsed Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership election, ^[17] and nominated Ian Murray in the deputy leadership election. ^[18] He was appointed Shadow Minister for Courts and Sentencing upon Starmer's election in April 2020. ^[19]

On 25 November 2021, Cunningham announced he would be standing down from Parliament at the 2024 election. ^[20]

On 22 November 2023, Cunningham accused Home Secretary James Cleverly of calling Stockton North a "shithole" in response to a question in the Commons; Cleverly denied the allegation, but apologised for using "unparliamentary language", which he claimed had been used to describe Cunningham himself. ^[21]

Personal life

Cunningham has been married to Evaline since 1977, who has served as a Member of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council since 2011. ^[22] They have two sons. ^[4] He is a Christian. ^[23]

References

1. "No. 59418". The London Gazette . 13 May 2010. p. 8745.
2. "Alex Cunningham MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
3. "Who's Who". ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
4. "About". Alex Cunningham MP. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
5. "Alex Cunningham". Archived from the original on 28 December 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
6. "'No surprise' at party deselection". The Northern Echo. 14 January 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
7. Smith, Alex (17 May 2010). "David Miliband's support: 104 MPs, 6 MEPs, 165 CLPs, 2 TU's, 1 SSoc". LabourList. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
8. "Select Committee on the Armed Forces Bill". parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
9. "Labour leadership: Jeremy Corbyn makes it onto the ballot". LabourList. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
10. "Caroline Flint to launch #ReachOut campaign as part of her deputy leadership bid". LabourList. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
11. "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
12. Talya Misiri (14 October 2016). "Alex Cunningham appointed as Shadow Pensions Minister". Pensions Age. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
13. "EXCL Alex Cunningham: Why I quit Labour frontbench over customs union row". Politics Home. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
14. "North-East MPs: Brexit finally exists – now the people must decide if they really want it". The Northern Echo. 24 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
15. "Teesside MP appointed as shadow minister". The Northern Echo. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
16. "Stockton North parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
17. "Just some of the reasons I'll be backing Keir Starmer to be the next leader of the Labour Party". @ACunninghamMP. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
18. "Rolling list: MP/MEP nominations for Labour deputy leadership candidates". LabourList. 8 January 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
19. "Keir Starmer appoints Labour frontbench". The Labour Party. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
20. "Stockton North MP Alex Cunningham to retire at next election". BBC News. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
21. "James Cleverly admits calling Labour MP 'unparliamentary' word". BBC News. 23 November 2023. Mr Cunningham had asked: "Why are 34% of children in my constituency living in poverty?" ... Making a point of order in the Commons later that day, he said: "Before the prime minister answered, the home secretary chose to add in his pennyworth. He was seen and heard to say 'because it's a shithole'.
22. "Cunningham, Evaline – Stockton Council". www.stockton.gov.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
23. "MP urges left-leaning Christians to join their local Labour party in wake of Hartlepool by-election defeat". premierchristian.news. Retrieved 25 November 2021.

External links

• Official website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Frank Cook	Member of Parliament for Stockton North 2010–2024	Succeeded by Chris McDonald