Alexander Robert Ballinger is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, ...

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 ...

. He gained the seat from James Morris, a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Career

Ballinger served with the

Royal Marine The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

s from 2005 to 2013, and previously worked in the Middle East for the

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

as an aid worker. He then worked in Pakistan for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). From 2023 to 2024, Ballinger ran a seven-volunteer mental health charity (St Germain’s Wellbeing) for people experiencing anxiety or depression, offering them up to four emotional support sessions, based in Birmingham and the Black Country.

Parliamentary career

Ballinger was elected on 4 July 2024 with 38.9% of the vote. In July 2024 Ballinger voted against an amendment to the King's Speech that would have removed the former Conservative Government's policy of a two-child benefit cap. It was widely reported that Labour MPs who did not vote with the government would have the whip removed and be forced to sit as independents. Ballinger voted to means test the Winter Fuel Payment for

pensioner A pensioner is a person who receives a pension, most commonly because of retirement from the workforce. This is a term typically used in the United Kingdom (along with OAP, initialism of old-age pensioner), Ireland and Australia where someone of p ...

References

External links

* Year of birth missing (living people) Living people UK MPs 2024–present Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub