Will Stone | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament for Swindon North | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Justin Tomlinson |
| Majority | 4,103 (9.3%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Swindon,England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Website | https://willstone.org.uk |
Will Stone is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Swindon North since 2024. [1]
Will Stone was born in Swindon,and grew up in Pinehurst. He attended the Headlands School,now Swindon Academy. and was an Army rifleman in the 1st Battalion,The Rifles. [2] [3]
Stone was elected as a councillor on Swindon Borough Council for the ward of Rodbourne Cheney in 2022. [4] As a councillor,Stone called for more support for veterans. [5]
He won the Swindon North seat for Labour at the 2024 general election,defeating the Conservative incumbent Justin Tomlinson by a margin of 4,103 votes (9.3%). [1]
In February 2025,Stone introduced the Ten Minute Rule Bill to amend the Road Traffic Act 1988,which would make death caused by an unlicensed driver a careless driving offence under Section 3. [6] [7] Stone was motivated to introduce the bill in response to the death of 14-year-old teenager from Swindon,who was killed by an unlicensed driver in 2022. [8] [9] After the bill did not progress past its second reading due to debate time being used on the Terminally Ill (Adults) End of Life Bill,Stone put forward two amendments to the Police and Crime Bill,which would (1) make the maximum penalty for a driver convicted of driving without a licence who has never held one six months in prison or an unlimited fine or both. (2) make it possible to send someone who does not stop after an accident to prison for up to a year or to give them an unlimited fine. [10]
On 20 May 2025,Stone spoke out in favour of transgender rights in the United Kingdom,saying "We should be doing our utmost to protect the trans community and ensure they have the same rights as everyone else and that they can live in dignity". [11]
Stone has campaigned for local health service improvement,securing over £400,000 for repairs at Swindon's Great Western Hospital [12] and £508,090 for Prospect Hospice. [13] [14]
In early 2025,Stone was appointed as a 'business champion' of defence and green technology by the Labour Party. [15] In this role,Stone has noted that one of his missions for Swindon North is to return the town to a place of high quality employment. To do this,he is leading efforts to utilise the Panattoni site for manufacturing in sectors like Defence and Drone production, [16] in line with the Government's increase to defence spending of 2.5% from April 2027 and foster economic growth in Swindon. [17] Overarching reasons for this move are to utilise the extra investment in defence whilst also supporting the UK's wider mission of scaling up defence capability. Many of the drone manufacturers he has engaged with have been involved in the defence of Ukraine and note their desire to support the UK and Ukraine's defence infrastructure [18] .
The first investment in Swindon drone production was announced on 17 July 2025,with the German Defence company STARK announcing a 40,000 square foot factory in Swindon,outlining an initial 100 high-skilled jobs in the town,and marking the company's first expansion outside of Germany [19] .
Will Stone commented "I’m proud to be working alongside STARK to bring defence manufacturing back to Swindon". [20]
Beyond STARK,Stone has been engaging with small businesses involved in the drone industry. On 22 August 2025,Stone welcomed anti-drone personal defence SME Munin Dynamics "to the town,and was quoted for saying,"Having another defence company set up in Swindon highlights that we are transitioning into becoming a drone manufacturing hub supporting the nation's security" [21] .
On the 11th September Will Stone announced on his Social Media that the British modular drone company FLYBY that had been involved in delivering NHS medications to the Isle of Wight,would be bringing 300 jobs to Swindon as part of their expansion plans. Their CEO thanked Will for his "vision and energy" stating it's "what our industry and our nation has been seeking" [22] and noted that the Swindon North MPs direct involvement had played a key part in their decision to set up in the town. FLYBY's new vertical take-off and landing (VTOL),pioneered in collaboration with the RAF,prompted the expansion and Mr Stone noted the investment "bolsters our nation’s defence and provides high-skilled jobs to the people of our town."
Stone is a black belt in both Judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. [23] [24] Stone is a fan of the Warhammer series of tabletop games and played at a tournament in Nottingham on 2 September 2025. [25]
