ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ

The UK General Election, in which Labour won a landslide victory, has seen 12 ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ alumni elected to Parliament, taking seats across five political parties.  

This includes two members of Keir Starmer’s first Cabinet – Dr Peter Kyle as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and Hilary Benn as Northern Ireland Secretary. 

The ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ alumni elected in the 2024 elections are:  

Through these elected candidates, ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ can be seen contributing to the success of the smaller political parties, as well as the three larger, long-established parties, with a broad spectrum of political views.

Meanwhile, longstanding Conservative MP and ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ alum (Operations Research MSc) Michael Fabricant lost his Lichfield seat, having served as Member of Parliament since 1992. 

ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ also had three students running as parliamentary candidates. Issy Waite, at just 21, who is currently completing a dissertation in International Relations, was Labour's youngest parliamentary candidate and narrowly lost out to Conservative leadership hopeful and ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ alumni Kemi Badenoch, in the North West Essex constituency by 2,610 votes. 

In the newly contested constituency of East Grinstead and Uckfield, a ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ triple-header saw student Ben Cox (who is studying Politics) run for Labour against ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ alumni Christina Coleman (Green Party) and Benedict Dempsey (Liberal Democrats) but who all ultimately lost out to Conservative challenger and former Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Mims Davies.  

Another ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ student, Cas Lay (who is studying International Relations) also stood for the Green Party in North Devon.  ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ alumni Alex Bulat in Huntingdon (Labour), Stephen McAuliffe in Arundel and South Downs (Green Party) and two staff members also stood but were unsuccessful in their election bids.   

Prof Sasha Roseneil, Vice-Chancellor of the ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ, said:  

“ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ alumni, staff and students have a strong reputation for standing up for what they believe in and for making valuable contributions to their local communities. It was fantastic to see so many ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ names among the 2024 parliamentary candidates, with a record 12 alumni successfully retaining or claiming seats in their respective constituencies.  

“Among those who stood were three current ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ students. While not elected, they demonstrated great dedication to their communities by running – sometimes standing against ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ alumni too.  

“The candidature of members of the ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ community for five political parties (Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green, and Reform) at this general election, and the election of members of each of these parties, highlights the political diversity that exists at ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ. As a university, freedom of speech and academic freedom are foundational to our work, and at ÐÔ°®ÊÓƵ we embrace diversity of background, belief, identity, and thought. We encourage our staff and students to think critically, to engage in meaningful debate and respectful discussion, to stand true to their beliefs, and to contribute positively to the world around them.  

“These skills are essential in politics, as in work and life, and we look forward to seeing our alumni making real change in their new roles as MPs.”