In 2023, he became the President of Friends of Real Lancashire, a group dedicated to promoting and preserving the heritage and identity of the historic county of Lancashire, following the death of the group's founder.[2] He is the son of the late broadcaster and pundit John Gwynne.
At the age of 21, Gwynne became England's youngest councillor when on 2 May 1996 he was elected to Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council[citation needed], representing the Denton West Ward for the Labour Party. He was re-elected in 2000 and 2004[citation needed] when he topped the poll in an "all out" election resulting from boundary changes in the borough. From 1998 to 2001 he chaired the Denton and Audenshaw District Assembly, and during 2003–04 he chaired the Resources and Community Services Scrutiny Panel.[citation needed]
At the 2010 general election, Gwynne was re-elected as MP for Denton and Reddish with a decreased vote share of 51% and a decreased majority of 9,831.[5][6]
In October 2010 Gwynne became a Shadow Transport Minister with responsibility for passenger transport. In the Opposition front bench reshuffle of October 2011 he was appointed to the Shadow Health team by Ed Miliband.
3rd term (2015–2017)
At the 2015 general election, Gwynne was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 50.8% and an increased majority of 10,511.[7][8]
Gwynne took a leading role in November 2015 in organising Labour in the Oldham West and Royton by-election, which took place as a result of the death of Michael Meacher.[9] Gwynne said he hoped that "I can do the memory of Michael Meacher proud by helping to return a Labour MP for the seat".[10] The Labour candidate Jim McMahon held the seat with a 10,000-plus majority and increased the party's share of the vote.[11]
In January 2017 Gwynne was appointed to lead Labour's campaign for the Copeland by-election following the resignation of Jamie Reed.[12] Gwynne focused the campaign on Conservatives plans to cut services at West Cumberland Hospital and to move some hospital facilities, including maternity services, to Carlisle, 80 miles away.[13]
In February 2017 Gwynne was appointed as the Labour Party's Co-National Campaign Coordinator. He shared this post with Ian Lavery.[14]
At the snap 2017 general election, Gwynne was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 63.5% and an increased majority of 14,077.[17] Following the election, Gwynne retained his role as the Labour Party's Co-National Campaign Coordinator, and was promoted to become Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, replacing Grahame Morris.[18]
In April 2018 Gwynne was named as a member of a Facebook group where individuals had shared anti-Semitic material. When a reporter confronted him about the group he stated that he had been added to it without his permission.[19]
5th term (2019–2024)
At the 2019 general election, Gwynne was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 50.1% and a decreased majority of 6,175.[20][21]
In April 2020, one day after Keir Starmer was elected as the new Labour leader, Gwynne resigned from his position as Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary.[22]
On 8 February 2025, Gwynne was dismissed from the government as health minister and suspended from the Labour Party for offensive comments he had posted in a WhatsApp group used by Manchester Labour politicians.[27]
In these messages, Gwynne mockingly suggested a reply to a constituent who had complained about a bin collection: "Dear resident, Fuck your bins. I’m re-elected and without your vote. Screw you. PS: Hopefully you’ll have croaked it by the all-outs".[28] Gwynne wrote in the group that Diane Abbott's appearance as the first black woman at Prime Minister's Questions was a "joke" for Black History Month, and retweeted a tweet making sexualised comments about fellow Labour MP Angela Rayner.[29] Gwynne wrote that American psychologist Marshall Rosenberg's name "sounds too militaristic and too Jewish", and asked if Rosenberg was a member of Israel's intelligence service, Mossad.[30][28]
In response, Gwynne wrote: "I deeply regret my badly misjudged comments and apologise for any offense I’ve caused"[31] and "I entirely understand the decisions the PM and the party have taken and, while very sad to have been suspended, will support them in any way I can."[32]
A second Labour MP Oliver Ryan was also involved in the scandal and is being investigated.[33]
Personal life
He is the son of sports commentator and reporter John Gwynne. He married Allison Dennis in March 2003 in Tameside, and they have two sons and a daughter.[34] Allison Gwynne serves as a councillor for Denton North East Ward of Tameside Council.[35]
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