Damien Egan
Kingswood (2024)
15 February 2024
7 May 2018 – 9 January 2024
6 May 2010 – 3 May 2018
8 July 1982
Cork, Ireland
Damien James Egan (born 8 July 1983) is a British Labour politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol North East, previously Kingswood, since 2024. He was previously the Mayor of Lewisham in Greater London from 2018 to 2024.
Early life and education
Damien James Egan[1] was born on 8 July 1983[2][3] in Cork, Ireland, and grew up in northeast Bristol, England.[4] During his childhood, his family became homeless and lived in temporary accommodation.[5]
Egan attended Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School and Hanham High School. He studied at St Mary's University College in Twickenham[5] before moving to Lewisham after graduating.[4]
Political career before Parliament
From 2003 to 2007, Egan was a parish councillor on Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council in Bristol before he moved to London.[3][6]
Elected as a councillor for Lewisham Central in 2010, Egan was appointed Lewisham London Borough Council's cabinet member for housing in 2014.[7]
In 2017, Egan was selected as the Labour Party's candidate for the directly elected mayoral elections in Lewisham in May 2018.[8] He was elected Mayor of Lewisham with 54 per cent of the vote. In the 2022 mayoral elections, Egan was re-elected with an increased majority and 58 per cent of the vote.[9]
Mayor of Lewisham
Egan was Mayor of Lewisham from 7 May 2018 to 9 January 2024.[10] His priorities included schools, council homes, parks, climate action and making Lewisham the first Borough of Sanctuary in May 2021.[11]
As mayor, Egan worked with the London Community Land Trust[12] and Citizens UK to develop a community land trust providing affordable homes for Lewisham residents.[13] Egan also supported other community land trust projects across Lewisham including London's largest self-build affordable housing project.[14]
Egan faced accusations of forcing out Lewisham Council CEO Ian Thomas (then the only black chief executive of a local council) in November 2018, who had only been in post for seven months.[15] Protests about his departure led to police being called to a council meeting.[16]
Parliamentary career
At the 2005 general election, Egan stood as the Labour candidate for Weston-super-Mare, finishing third with 18.7 per cent of the vote behind the Conservative candidate John Penrose and the Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Cotter.[17]
At the 2010 general election, Egan stood as the Labour candidate for Beckenham, where he finished third with 14.5 per cent of the vote behind the Conservatives' Bob Stewart and the Liberal Democrats.[18]
In July 2023, Egan was selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Bristol North East.[19] He defeated Bristol mayor Marvin Rees to win the candidacy for the new seat, which was established due to boundary changes at the 2024 general election.
On 15 February 2024, he became MP for Kingswood in South Gloucestershire at the Kingswood by-election, following the resignation of the Conservative MP Chris Skidmore.[20] Egan was elected with 44.9% of the vote and a majority of 2,501.[21][22]
Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Egan's constituency of Kingswood was abolished, and replaced with Bristol North East. At the 2024 general election, Egan was elected to Parliament as MP for Bristol North East with a vote share of 45.3% and a majority of 11,167.[23]
Personal life
Egan is married to Israeli-born Yossi Felberbaum.[24][25] Though raised a Catholic, Egan converted to Judaism, his husband's faith, at Bromley Reform Synagogue in 2018, two years after meeting Felberbaum.[26][27]
References
- ^ "No. 64324". The London Gazette. 22 February 2024. p. 3538.
- ^ "Freshers' week". POLITICO. 8 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
Happy Birthday to: ... Bristol North East MP Damien Egan
- ^ a b Cork, Tristan (16 June 2023). "Elected mayor coming home with hopes of being Bristol's next MP". Bristol Live. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
The 40-year-old
- ^ a b "Mayor's biography". Lewisham Council. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
- ^ a b Jess McCabe (26 September 2018). "Experiences of homelessness: an interview with Lewisham Mayor Damien Egan". Inside Housing. Ocean Media Group. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Two mayors want to be MP". Downend Voice. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ "Mayor's biography". Lewisham Council. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
- ^ "Labour selects its candidate for Lewisham mayoral election". News Shopper. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
- ^ "Mayor of Lewisham announces new Cabinet team following elections". News Shopper. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
- ^ "London Mayoral Elections 2018 - Labour holds firm". East London Lines. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ "Lewisham first council in UK to be recognised as 'sanctuary' for refugees". News Shopper. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ www.londonclt.org
- ^ Lee, Claudia (29 March 2023). "'The power of communities': Affordable homes designed by residents open in Lewisham". South London News. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ "Mayor Damien Egan signs lease on site for Londons largest, self-build, affordable housing project". Lewisham Council. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
- ^ "Ian Thomas- Only Black Council CEO in UK -Stands Down After 7 Months". Operation Black Vote. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ Witton, Bridie (29 November 2018). "Police called as Lewisham Council meeting descends into chaos". The Greenwich Wire. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ "2005 General Election - Weston-super-Mare". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ "2010 General Election - Beckenham". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
- ^ "London candidate beats Bristol mayor for MP seat". BBC News. 30 July 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
- ^ Ross, Alex (16 February 2024). "Who is Damien Egan? Labour's new MP for Kingswood". The Independent. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF). South Gloucestershire Council. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- ^ "Labour overturns Tory majority to win key by-election seat in Kingswood". BBC News. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Bristol North East - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ Neame, Katie; Belger, Tom (16 February 2024). "Kingswood by-election results: Meet new Labour MP Damien Egan". LabourList. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ Harpin, Lee. "Labour's Jewish by-election candidate celebrates victory with Israeli-born husband". Jewish News. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ "Winner of by-election in UK's Kingswood a Jew by choice, married to Israeli". The Times of Israel. 17 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
- ^ Philpot, Robert (2 June 2019). "'Sometimes you feel like you're hiding something,' says Labour mayor of converting to Judaism". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
External links
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Kingswood 2024–present | Incumbent |
- v
- t
- e
- Labour Party
- Parliamentary Labour Party
- List of Labour Party MPs
- Luke Akehurst
- Lewis Atkinson
- Jonathan Brash
- Alan Campbell
- Mark Ferguson
- Emma Foody
- Mary Foy
- Mary Glindon
- Sharon Hodgson
- Ian Lavery
- Emma Lewell-Buck
- Andy McDonald
- Chris McDonald
- Lola McEvoy
- Catherine McKinnell
- Grahame Morris
- Joe Morris
- Luke Myer
- Chi Onwurah
- Kate Osborne
- Bridget Phillipson
- Sam Rushworth
- David Smith
- Alan Strickland
- Anna Turley
- Liz Twist
- Debbie Abrahams
- Mike Amesbury
- David Baines
- Paula Barker
- Lorraine Beavers
- Elsie Blundell
- Phil Brickell
- Markus Campbell-Savours
- Dan Carden
- Lizzi Collinge
- Andrew Cooper
- Ashley Dalton
- Samantha Dixon
- Peter Dowd
- Angela Eagle
- Maria Eagle
- Maya Ellis
- Kirith Entwistle
- Bill Esterson
- Paul Foster
- James Frith
- Andrew Gwynne
- Sarah Hall
- Mark Hendrick
- Jonathan Hinder
- Patrick Hurley
- Kim Johnson
- Mike Kane
- Afzal Khan
- Josh MacAlister
- Andy MacNae
- Justin Madders
- Alison McGovern
- Jim McMahon
- Anneliese Midgley
- Julie Minns
- Navendu Mishra
- Connor Naismith
- Lisa Nandy
- Charlotte Nichols
- Matthew Patrick
- Jo Platt
- Lucy Powell
- Yasmin Qureshi
- Connor Rand
- Angela Rayner
- Jonathan Reynolds
- Marie Rimmer
- Tim Roca
- Sarah Russell
- Oliver Ryan
- Michelle Scrogham
- Josh Simons
- Cat Smith
- Jeff Smith
- Sarah Smith
- Graham Stringer
- Derek Twigg
- Christian Wakeford
- Paul Waugh
- Chris Webb
- Andrew Western
- Michael Wheeler
- Hilary Benn
- Clive Betts
- Olivia Blake
- Jade Botterill
- Sarah Champion
- Luke Charters
- Yvette Cooper
- Judith Cummins
- Nic Dakin
- Paul Davies
- Kate Dearden
- Anna Dixon
- Josh Fenton-Glynn
- Gill Furniss
- Louise Haigh
- Fabian Hamilton
- Emma Hardy
- John Healey
- Alison Hume
- Sally Jameson
- Dan Jarvis
- Diana Johnson
- Kim Leadbeater
- Simon Lightwood
- Rachael Maskell
- Keir Mather
- Ed Miliband
- Abtisam Mohamed
- Melanie Onn
- Stephanie Peacock
- Lee Pitcher
- Rachel Reeves
- Jake Richards
- Mark Sewards
- Naz Shah
- Alex Sobel
- Marie Tidball
- Jon Trickett
- Karl Turner
- Harpreet Uppal
- Katie White
- Catherine Atkinson
- Lee Barron
- Juliet Campbell
- Jonathan Davies
- Hamish Falconer
- Linsey Farnsworth
- Natalie Fleet
- Lilian Greenwood
- Amanda Hack
- Louise Jones
- Liz Kendall
- Gen Kitchen
- James Naish
- Samantha Niblett
- Alex Norris
- Michael Payne
- Jon Pearce
- Toby Perkins
- Mike Reader
- Lucy Rigby
- Jeevun Sandher
- Baggy Shanker
- Adam Thompson
- Michelle Welsh
- John Whitby
- Jo White
- Nadia Whittome
- Rosie Wrighting
- Steve Yemm
- Tahir Ali
- Alex Ballinger
- Antonia Bance
- Chris Bloore
- Sureena Brackenridge
- Julia Buckley
- Liam Byrne
- Alistair Carns
- Jacob Collier
- Tom Collins
- Sarah Coombes
- Mary Creagh
- Shaun Davies
- Cat Eccles
- Sarah Edwards
- Allison Gardner
- Preet Kaur Gill
- Jodie Gosling
- Paulette Hamilton
- Leigh Ingham
- Adam Jogee
- Gurinder Josan
- Warinder Juss
- Sonia Kumar
- Shabana Mahmood
- Pat McFadden
- Josh Newbury
- Taiwo Owatemi
- Jess Phillips
- Dave Robertson
- John Slinger
- Gareth Snell
- Rachel Taylor
- Laurence Turner
- Valerie Vaz
- Matt Western
- David Williams
- Jack Abbott
- Bayo Alaba
- Jess Asato
- Kevin Bonavia
- David Burton-Sampson
- Sam Carling
- Pam Cox
- Jen Craft
- Josh Dean
- Ben Goldsborough
- Chris Hinchliff
- Rachel Hopkins
- Terry Jermy
- Andrew Lewin
- Clive Lewis
- Alice Macdonald
- Alex Mayer
- Sarah Owen
- Andrew Pakes
- Peter Prinsley
- Jenny Riddell-Carpenter
- Alistair Strathern
- David Taylor
- Matt Turmaine
- Chris Vince
- Mohammad Yasin
- Daniel Zeichner
- Diane Abbott
- Rushanara Ali
- Rosena Allin-Khan
- Fleur Anderson
- James Asser
- Jas Athwal
- Calvin Bailey
- Danny Beales
- Rachel Blake
- Dawn Butler
- Ruth Cadbury
- Nesil Caliskan
- Bambos Charalambous
- Feryal Clark
- Ben Coleman
- Liam Conlon
- Deirdre Costigan
- Neil Coyle
- Stella Creasy
- Janet Daby
- Marsha de Cordova
- Clive Efford
- Florence Eshalomi
- Miatta Fahnbulleh
- Vicky Foxcroft
- Daniel Francis
- Barry Gardiner
- Georgia Gould
- Helen Hayes
- Meg Hillier
- Rupa Huq
- Natasha Irons
- Sarah Jones
- Uma Kumaran
- David Lammy
- Seema Malhotra
- Siobhain McDonagh
- Margaret Mullane
- James Murray
- Abena Oppong-Asare
- Kate Osamor
- Matthew Pennycook
- David Pinto-Duschinsky
- Joe Powell
- Steve Reed
- Ellie Reeves
- Bell Ribeiro-Addy
- Sarah Sackman
- Tulip Siddiq
- Andy Slaughter
- Keir Starmer
- Wes Streeting
- Gareth Thomas
- Emily Thornberry
- Stephen Timms
- Dan Tomlinson
- Catherine West
- Callum Anderson
- Olivia Bailey
- Alex Baker
- Polly Billington
- Beccy Cooper
- Chris Curtis
- Emily Darlington
- Tan Dhesi
- Jim Dickson
- Anneliese Dodds
- Helena Dollimore
- Rosie Duffield
- Lauren Edwards
- Sojan Joseph
- Satvir Kaur
- Naushabah Khan
- Peter Kyle
- Laura Kyrke-Smith
- Peter Lamb
- Amanda Martin
- Kevin McKenna
- Stephen Morgan
- Luke Murphy
- Tris Osborne
- Darren Paffey
- Richard Quigley
- Emma Reynolds
- Matt Rodda
- Tom Rutland
- Lauren Sullivan
- Peter Swallow
- Mike Tapp
- Tony Vaughan
- Chris Ward
- Sean Woodcock
- Yuan Yang
- Dan Aldridge
- Heidi Alexander
- Sadik Al-Hassan
- Matt Bishop
- Neil Duncan-Jordan
- Damien Egan
- Anna Gelderd
- Lloyd Hatton
- Tom Hayes
- Claire Hazelgrove
- Darren Jones
- Jayne Kirkham
- Noah Law
- Kerry McCarthy
- Alex McIntyre
- Perran Moon
- Dan Norris
- Simon Opher
- Luke Pollard
- Steve Race
- Karin Smyth
- Will Stone
- Fred Thomas
- Jessica Toale
- Tonia Antoniazzi
- Alex Barros-Curtis
- Torsten Bell
- Chris Bryant
- Alex Davies-Jones
- Stephen Doughty
- Chris Elmore
- Chris Evans
- Catherine Fookes
- Gill German
- Becky Gittins
- Nia Griffith
- Carolyn Harris
- Claire Hughes
- Gerald Jones
- Ruth Jones
- Stephen Kinnock
- Anna McMorrin
- Jessica Morden
- Kanishka Narayan
- Andrew Ranger
- Nick Smith
- Jo Stevens
- Mark Tami
- Nick Thomas-Symonds
- Henry Tufnell
- Steve Witherden
- Zubir Ahmed
- Douglas Alexander
- Scott Arthur
- Richard Baker
- Johanna Baxter
- Maureen Burke
- Irene Campbell
- Torcuil Crichton
- Graeme Downie
- Patricia Ferguson
- Alan Gemmell
- Tracy Gilbert
- John Grady
- Lillian Jones
- Chris Kane
- Brian Leishman
- Douglas McAllister
- Martin McCluskey
- Blair McDougall
- Gordon McKee
- Frank McNally
- Kirsty McNeill
- Chris Murray
- Ian Murray
- Katrina Murray
- Pamela Nash
- Gregor Poynton
- Joani Reid
- Martin Rhodes
- Michael Shanks
- Euan Stainbank
- Kenneth Stevenson
- Elaine Stewart
- Kirsteen Sullivan
- Alison Taylor
- Imogen Walker
- Melanie Ward