Career
Ward became a parliamentary researcher after leaving Oxford and spent 6 years working for Keir Starmer. [5] Joining Starmer's staff in 2015,Ward was employed as a speechwriter and political adviser. Following Starmer's victory in the 2020 leadership election,Ward became one of Starmer's closest advisors as part of a group branded the "gang of five" by backbencher Labour MPs which included Morgan McSweeney and Jenny Chapman. Ward went on to become the Deputy Chief of Staff for Starmer before leaving his advisory role in July 2021. [8] [9]
After leaving his advisory role,Ward worked for Hanbury Strategy as a director [10] starting in January 2022. [11] Hanbury Strategy is a registered lobbying firm and political and public affairs consultancy agency [11] [12] where he led the section dedicated to the Labour party. [13] During his time at the company,Hanbury advised clients including Amazon,Deliveroo,Flutter,UBS,Blackstone and Rockhopper, [12] among others. [11] During this time,Ward wrote an article for the conservative political publication The Spectator . [14]
Ward was selected for the constituency of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven following the suspension of Lloyd Russell-Moyle from the Labour party on allegations dating back to 2016. According to left-wing political commentator Owen Jones,Ward had expressed an interest in becoming a member of parliament for a Brighton constituency many years prior. [12] The suspension of Russell-Moyle triggered an emergency meeting the following day, [15] immediately following which Ward was announced as the new candidate. More than 200 members of the Labour party protested the method of Ward's selection, [16] and former leader of Brighton and Hove City Council Nancy Platts questioned the fairness of the process. [17] Ward's campaign launch was interrupted by pro-Palestine protests over the Gaza war, [18] and was accused of being a parachute candidate. [16]
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