Juan Timothy Charles Roca (born 14 November 1985) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, when he gained the seat from the Conservative Party. Roca is the first ever Labour MP for Macclesfield, which had been held by the Conservative Party since 1918.

Early life and education

Roca grew up in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, attending Disley Primary School in

Disley Disley is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England. It is located on the edge of the Peak District in the Goyt Valley, south of Stockport and close to the county boundary with Derbyshire at New Mills. The popu ...

, and Poynton High School. Roca studied History at

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

, where he served as President of the Students' Union from 2007 to 2008.

Career

After attending Lancaster University, Roca moved to London working in Higher Education. He also became a Patron of APARU, the Association of Argentine professionals in the United Kingdom. At the May 2014 Westminster City Council election, Roca was one of Labour's three candidates for the St James's ward. However, all three seats were comfortably held by the Conservative Party. Tim Roca subsequently stood as the Labour candidate for

at the May 2015 general election. Although he increased Labour's vote share, the Conservative Party held the seat with a 29.8% majority. In July 2015, Roca was elected to represent

Harrow Road Harrow Road is an ancient route in London, North West London which runs from Paddington in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow, London, Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queen's Park, London, Queens Par ...

ward (centred on the street of that name) on

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings ...

in a by-election, thus becoming a Labour Councillor. He was subsequently re-elected at the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

local elections and stood down in August 2024. He has served as Cabinet Member for Young People and Learning, and, until January 2024, as deputy leader of the council. Roca was selected as the Labour candidate for Macclesfield at the 2024 general election, and this time took the seat from the Conservatives, who had represented the constituency since 1918.

Personal life

Roca is openly gay, and his parliamentary candidacy was supported by the

LGBT+ Labour LGBT+ Labour is the socialist society (Labour Party), socialist society officially representing the LGBTQ wing of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in the United Kingdom. The purpose of the organisation is to campaign within the Labour Party, ...

Chris Smith List.

References

External links

* Year of birth missing (living people) Living people UK MPs 2024–present Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom English gay politicians Alumni of Lancaster University Councillors in the City of Westminster Labour Party (UK) councillors {{improve categories, date=July 2024