James Frith | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Bury North | |
Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
Preceded by | James Daly |
In office 8 June 2017 –6 November 2019 | |
Preceded by | David Nuttall |
Succeeded by | James Daly |
Member of Bury Council for Elton | |
In office 5 May 2011 –7 May 2015 | |
Preceded by | Denise Bigg |
Succeeded by | Michael Hankey |
Personal details | |
Born | London,England,UK | 23 April 1977
Political party | Labour |
Spouse | Nikki Frith |
Children | 4 |
Parent | Richard Frith |
Alma mater | Manchester Metropolitan University |
James Richard Frith (born 23 April 1977) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury North since 2024. He was previously the MP from 2017 to 2019. [1]
Frith was born in London on 23 April 1977, [2] [3] the son of Richard Frith,who formerly served as Bishop of Hull and Bishop of Hereford. He was privately educated at both Monkton Combe School and Taunton School,and then studied Politics and Economics at Manchester Metropolitan University. [4]
Frith was the lead singer in a rock band called Finka,and later another band,the Fusileers,performing nationwide at venues and festivals including Glastonbury. [5] [6]
During the 2005 General Election campaign,Frith worked as a Campaign and Communications Manager for the Labour Party and Ruth Kelly MP,then Secretary of State for Education. [4]
Before his election to Parliament,Frith was the CEO and Founder of All Together,a social enterprise providing careers education and guidance services to young people to help them get into work. [5]
In the 2010 Bury Metropolitan Borough Council Election,Frith unsuccessfully stood as the Labour Party candidate for Elton ward against incumbent Conservative Michael Hankey. [7] He successfully stood for Elton ward again in 2011,gaining the open seat from the Conservatives after disgraced incumbent Denise Bigg chose not to seek re-election. [7] [8] Frith became the first Labour councillor to represent the ward since 2002. [7]
Frith sat on the Licensing Committee during his four-year term as a Councillor, [4] and opted to run for Parliament rather than seek re-election. [9]
After being selected as the Labour Party candidate in Bury North for the 2015 General Election,he was profiled by the Young Fabians during the 2015 General Election campaign for a pamphlet on prospective parliamentary candidates named 'Fifteen for 2015'. In the pamphlet,Frith said "I think [ Blair] did more for ordinary people and families than any government since",but added New Labour “should have gone further and faster”. [10] He lost to incumbent Conservative David Nuttall by 378 votes despite a swing to Labour. [11]
Frith contributed to the Fabian Society's book Never Again:Lessons from Labour's Key Seats after his election defeat,criticising the leadership's 'failure to build on Labour's excellent record on enterprise and skills in government by engaging properly with the business community'. [12]
He was re-selected to stand as the Labour candidate for Bury North in the 2017 General Election,fending off a challenge from high-profile candidate Karen Danczuk. [13]
Frith was elected as Member of Parliament for Bury North in 2017,defeating incumbent Conservative David Nuttall with a majority of 4,375. [14] He made his maiden speech on 19 July 2017 during the debate on tuition fees. [15]
Frith was a member of the Education Select Committee from 2017 to 2019, [1] and chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group for Hospice and End of Life Care. [4] In May 2018,he was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Healey MP,the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing. [16]
He edited a book entitled New Brooms,published by the Fabian Society in 2018,featuring a collection of essays on parliamentary reform written by several Labour MPs from the 2017 intake. [17]
In July 2019,Frith worked alongside UK Music to secure and lead a debate in Westminster Hall on the decline of music in education,during which he urged the government combat the crisis facing music in education. [6]
He lost his seat in the 2019 General Election to James Daly,Bury Council's Conservative Group Leader,by 105 votes and conceded after three recounts. [18] [19] Following his defeat,Frith described feeling a "a degree of release" from the weeks campaigning,but added he felt the impact of being "inches from winning". [18]
He was re-elected in the 2024 General Election to Bury North and sits on the Culture,Media,and Sport Select Committee.
In an opinion piece for LabourList during the 2020 Labour Leadership Election,Frith invited all the candidates to visit his marginal constituency to better understand the seats they need to win. Also in the piece,he was critical of the party's 2019 General Election campaign for 'sending hundreds of activists to Tory seats that we had no hope of winning' and cautioned against creating a 'manifesto that nobody believes'. [20]
Frith now works for Atticus Partners,a political lobbying and PR group.
Frith and his wife Nikki have been Bury residents since 2009,where they have raised their four children. [5] He has spoken about the challenges of balancing family life whilst being a Member of Parliament. [21]
Fabian Uziell-Hamilton is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds North East since 1997. He served as Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament from November 2016 to September 2023.
Bethnal Green and Bow was a constituency in Greater London,represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2010 until its abolition for the 2024 general election by Rushanara Ali of the Labour Party.
North Ayrshire and Arran is a constituency of the British House of Commons,located in the south-west of Scotland within the North Ayrshire council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post voting system of voting.
Wimbledon is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Since 2024,the seat has been held by Paul Kohler of the Liberal Democrats.
South East Cambridgeshire was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2015 to 2024 by Lucy Frazer,a member of the Conservative Party who has served as the Culture Secretary since 2023. The constituency was established for the 1983 general election and was based on the cathedral city of Ely.
Giles Francis Watling is a British Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton from 2017 until 2024. He was an actor prior to entering politics.
Simon Christopher Danczuk is a British author and former Member of Parliament (MP) who represented the constituency of Rochdale between 2010 and 2017. Elected as a member of the Labour Party,he was suspended from the party in 2015 after it emerged he had exchanged explicit messages with a 17-year-old girl. He has co-written two books,Smile for the Camera:The Double Life of Cyril Smith and Scandal at Dolphin Square. He was the Reform UK candidate in the 2024 Rochdale by-election,which was later won by Workers Party of Britain leader George Galloway. He came sixth behind Liberal Democrats,Labour,Conservatives and Independent candidate David Tully.
David Taylor Nuttall is a former British Conservative Party politician. He is a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury North,having won his seat in the House of Commons at the 2010 general election. He lost his seat to Labour's James Frith at the 2017 general election.
Simon James Hoare is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Dorset since 2015. He was formerly Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government from November 2023 until July 2024.
Paula Michelle Sherriff is a British Labour politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dewsbury from 2015 to 2019.
Ruth Stephanie Nicole George is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for High Peak from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party,she has been a Member of Derbyshire County Council since 2020.
Ian Levy is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Blyth Valley from the 2019 general election until the seat's abolition in 2024. He was the only Conservative to represent Blyth Valley since the constituency was created in 1950. He served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) in the Ministry of Defence from 2022 until the general election,in which he failed to win the new seat of Cramlington and Killingworth. Before this,Levy was a PPS in the Cabinet Office.
Jacob Young is a former British Conservative Party politician and served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Levelling Up from 18 September 2023,until losing his seat in July 2024. He previously served as Assistant Government Whip between September 2022 and September 2023. He was elected as MP for Redcar at the 2019 general election. He was the first Conservative MP to represent the constituency.
Christian Wakeford is a British politician serving as Assistant Government Whip since 2024. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury South since the 2019 general election. Elected in 2019 as a Conservative,he crossed the floor to Labour in 2022. He was re-elected for Labour in the 2024 general election.
David Timothy Simmonds is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ruislip,Northwood and Pinner from 2019. Simmonds was formerly a councillor on Hillingdon London Borough Council,having served from 1998 to 2022. He has been Shadow Minister for Housing,Communities and Local Government since July 2024.
Thomas Patrick Hunt is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ipswich from 2019 to 2024.
James Barry Daly is a British politician who has served as the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party from February to July 2024. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury North from 2019 to 2024. He is a member of the Conservative Party.
Louie Thomas French is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Old Bexley and Sidcup since the 2021 by-election. He was a councillor on Bexley London Borough Council from 2014 until 2022.
Annalissa Firth is a British politician and former barrister who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Southend West from 2022 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,she was also a councillor on Sevenoaks District Council between 2011 and 2022.