Alexandre Samuel Barros-Curtis (born 1986) is a British Labour party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Cardiff West 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 ...

. Prior to his election, he was the Labour Party's Executive Director of Legal Affairs.

Background

Barros-Curtis was born in

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

. His mother was a teacher and his father was a police officer. He went to Gronant Primary School and Prestatyn High School, subsequently studying law at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

Career

Barros-Curtis had been a lawyer and marketing consultant. In 2016 he was a senior parliamentary assistant to

Andy Burnham Andrew Murray Burnham (born 7 January 1970) is a British politician who has served as Mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017 Greater Manchester mayoral election, 2017. He served in Gordon Brown's Brown ministry, Cabinet as Chief Secretary to th ...

MP and, in the same year, was a close advisor to

Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a British lobbyist and former Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. Smith was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd (UK Parliament constituency), Pontypridd from 2 ...

during Smith's attempt to become leader of the Labour Party. Barros-Curtis and his company, Movement for Another Future Limited, were linked to Sir

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

's successful campaign to become Labour leader in April 2020. Later in 2020 Barros-Curtis became the Labour Party's Executive Director of Legal Affairs. Overseeing Labour's Compliance Unit, he was central to the party's plans to deal with allegations of anti-semitism. He was criticised for his handling of costly legal action against five ex-Labour staff members who had been accused of leaking an internal report on anti-semitism. The cases were dropped on 6 June 2024, after costing the party at least £2.4 million.

Parliamentary career

On 31 May 2024, it was announced Barros-Curtis had been selected as Labour candidate for the safe

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

constituency of Cardiff West, after the sitting Labour MP, Kevin Brennan, had announced his intention to stand down. The selection had been made by a panel composed of Welsh Labour's Welsh Executive Committee and representatives from the local Labour parties. Anger was expressed by Labour Party members that Barros-Curtis lived in London, had no connection to the area and had been " parachuted" onto the constituency without meaningful local input into the decision. It was reported that the

Senedd The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

member for Cardiff West (and former Wales First Minister),

Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford (born 19 September 1954) is a Welsh politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance since September 2024, having previously held the position from 2016 to 2018. He previously served as First Minister of Wales and L ...

, had refused to share the same office and was looking for new premises. Barros-Curtis won the Cardiff West election with approximately one third of the votes (16,442) with a majority of 7,019 over the second-placed

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

candidate. He said he wanted "to get to work straight away", make a home for himself in the area and convince the voters "not all politicians are the same".

Personal life

Barros-Curtis is openly gay and has a husband.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barros-Curtis, Alex 1986 births Alumni of the London School of Economics Living people People from Denbighshire UK MPs 2024–present Welsh Labour MPs LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Welsh LGBTQ politicians