Max Wilkinson | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2024 | |
Member of Parliament for Cheltenham | |
Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
Preceded by | Alex Chalk |
Majority | 7,210 (14.6%) |
Liberal Democrat portfolios | |
2024–present | Culture, Media and Sport |
Personal details | |
Political party | Liberal Democrats |
Maximilian Peter McGregor Wilkinson, [1] known as Max Wilkinson, is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Cheltenham since 2024. [2] [3]
Wilkinson attended Broadoak Community School (now Broadoak Academy) and took A-levels at Churchill Community School (now Churchill Academy and Sixth Form) before studying business management and administration at Cardiff University (2003-2007). [4]
After graduating in 2007 he worked as a journalist. His first permanent job after university was at The Weston Mercury . He later worked as a reporter for Cheltenham newspaper, The Gloucestershire Echo . During his time as a journalist, Wilkinson worked as a freelance sports reporter, covering football matches in the West. Wilkinson then worked in communications for Cheltenham Ladies College (2012-2014), and in Cheltenham for PR and communications agency Camargue (2014-2021). [5] [6]
Wilkinson was first elected to Cheltenham Borough Council to serve Park ward in 2014, deposing the then Conservative group leader in what was then the Conservative Party’s safest ward in Cheltenham. [3]
He subsequently became the councillor for Oakley ward in 2018, [7] and was reelected in the ward with a much increased majority in 2022. [8] As a backbench councillor, he put affordable housing at the heart of his work. His campaigns led to a large increase in affordable housing investment in Cheltenham, including the town’s £180 million housing investment scheme. [9] [10]
In 2020 he was appointed as Cheltenham's first Council Cabinet Member for the Climate Emergency. [11] He oversaw Cheltenham’s first Climate Emergency Action Plan, [12] led on the Climate Change Supplementary Planning Document, [13] introduced the £10million Cheltenham Zero Fund and led the formation of the Cheltenham Zero Partnership. In 2022 he was made Cabinet Member for economic development, culture, tourism and wellbeing. [14] In that role he oversaw a landmark report and action plan to tackle empty shops in the town centre, focusing on converting empty spaces into flats and apartments. [15] He also came up with the concept of the Feed Cheltenham Leisure Pass, enabling local food pantry users to gain free access to leisure activities. [16] Wilkinson led a campaign to have a memorial tree planting in memory of Cheltenham people lost during the Covid pandemic and all of the public servants who worked so hard to save lives and keep the town going during lockdown. The avenue of trees was planted in Sandford Park. [17]
Wilkinson stood down as a councillor in May 2024. [18]
Wilkinson was the Liberal Democrat general election candidate in Stroud at the snap 2017 general election, where he came in third place with 2,053 votes (3.2%). [19] Later that year, he was selected to contest the Cheltenham seat. In the 2019 general election he came second with 27,505 votes (46.3%), 981 votes behind the incumbent Conservative MP Alex Chalk. [20]
Wilkinson was elected MP for Cheltenham in the 2024 general election on 4 July, with 25,076 votes (50.6%) and a majority of 7,210 over Alex Chalk, then Conservative Justice Secretary and incumbent MP. There were five candidates and a turnout of 65%. [2] [21] Chalk had held the seat since 2015, taking it from the Liberal Democrats. [22]
Nigel David Jones, Baron Jones of Cheltenham was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from the 1992 general election until the 2005 general election, and as a member of the House of Lords from 2005 until his death in 2022.
Alan Reid is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who has been a councillor in the East Dunbartonshire ward of Bearsden North since 2022.
The Liberal Party is a liberal political party in the United Kingdom that was founded in 1989 as a continuation of the original Liberal Party by members who opposed its merger with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to form the Liberal Democrats. The party holds six local council seats. The party promotes a hybrid of both classical and social liberal tendencies.
Vauxhall was a constituency in London. It was represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by members of the Labour Party for the whole of its creation from 1950 until its abolition for the 2024 general election.
Cheltenham is a constituency in Gloucestershire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1832. As with all constituencies, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years. Since 2024, its MP has been Max Wilkinson of the Liberal Democrats.
Martin Charles Horwood is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented South West England in the European Parliament from 2019 to 2020. He previously served as the Member of Parliament for Cheltenham from 2005 to 2015.
The county of Gloucestershire is divided into 7 parliamentary constituencies: 2 borough constituencies and 5 county constituencies, one of which crosses the county boundary with Wiltshire.
Andrew Hanson Jones is a former British Conservative politician who had been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Harrogate and Knaresborough since 2010 until 2024. He has twice served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport and as well as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.
The 2010 Cheltenham Council election took place on 6 May 2010 to elect members of Cheltenham Borough Council in Gloucestershire, England. Half of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrats stayed in overall control of the council.
The 2008 Cheltenham Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Cheltenham Borough Council in Gloucestershire, England. Half of the council was up for election and the council stayed under no overall control.
Bramhall South and Woodford is an electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. It elects three councillors to Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council using the first-past-the-post electoral method, electing one councillor every year without election on the fourth.
The 2008 Leeds City Council election took place on Thursday 1 May 2008 to elect members of Leeds City Council in England.
Elections to Gloucestershire County Council took place on 2 May 2013 as part of the 2013 United Kingdom local elections. 53 electoral divisions elected one county councillor each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. No elections were held in South Gloucestershire, which is a unitary authority outside the area covered by the County Council.
Elections for the London Borough of Merton were held on 22 May 2014 to elect members of Merton London Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections in England and an election to the European Parliament.
Alexander John Gervase Chalk is a British politician and barrister. He served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from April 2023 to July 2024.
People Against Bureaucracy (PAB) is a minor political party in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. The party currently holds one seat on Cheltenham Borough Council: party leader Stan Smith representing the Prestbury ward. They are the only other party represented on the council than the Greens, and the Liberal Democrats.
Ancoats and Beswick is an electoral ward of Manchester, England created by the Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) replacing the previous electoral wards of Ancoats & Clayton and Bradford for the local elections 2018.
Elections to Manchester City Council were held on 2 May 2019, as part of the 2019 United Kingdom local elections. In 2018 Labour retained its majority of the council with 94 seats to the Liberal Democrats making up the opposition of 2, led by former MP John Leech.
The 2021 Cheltenham Borough Council elections took place on 6 May 2021 to elect members of Cheltenham Borough Council in Gloucestershire, England. Half of the council was up for election, and the Liberal Democrats remained in overall control of the council.
The 2024 Cheltenham Borough Council election was held on Thursday 2 May 2024, alongside the other local elections in the United Kingdom being held on the same day. All 40 members of Cheltenham Borough Council in Gloucestershire were elected following boundary changes.