Andrew Francis Slaughter (born 29 September 1960) is a British Labour Party politician who is currently serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hammersmith and Chiswick, and before that,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

and Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush, since

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. Prior to his election to Parliament, he had served as Leader of the

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London boroughs, London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 as the London Borough of Hammersmith from the merger of the former Metr ...

Council. In the 2024 general election, Slaughter stood in the new seat of Hammersmith and Chiswick.

Early life and education

Slaughter was born on 29 September 1960. He attended

Latymer Upper School Latymer Upper School is a public school in Hammersmith, London, England, on King Street. It derives from a charity school, and is part of the same 1624 Latymer Foundation, from a bequest by the English legal official Edward Latymer. There ...

, before studying at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

, College of Law, and the

Inns of Court School of Law The City Law School is a law school in London, England, and it is one of the six schools of City, University of London. The law school traces its origins to the Inns of Court School of Law (ICSL), which was founded in 1852. The ICSL became par ...

Legal career

Slaughter was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1993, thereby qualifying to practice as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

. He was a barrister with Bridewell Chambers from 1993 to 2006, before joining Lamb Chambers in 2006.

Parliamentary career

He stood at the Uxbridge by-election in July 1997, following the unexpected death seven days after the 1997 general election of incumbent Sir Michael Shersby. The seat, which had a small Conservative majority, was held for the Conservatives by John Randall. At the 2005 general election, Slaughter was elected as the member of parliament for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush in London, retaining the seat for Labour following the retirement of his predecessor, Clive Soley. Slaughter is currently a member of the Justice Select Committee. He was a member of the

Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 ...

Select Committee in 2009–10 and in 2010 of the London Regional Select Committee and Joint Committee on Human Rights. Previously he was member of the Regulatory Reform Select Committee (2005–07) and

Children, Schools and Families Select Committee The Education Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Education and any asso ...

(2007–09). Slaughter's interests include the Middle East and particularly Palestine. He is Secretary of the Britain-Palestine All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) and Vice-Chair of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East. His interests are reflected in the other APPGs of which he is a member, including Democracy and Human Rights in the Gulf, Fire Safety and Rescue, Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, Heathrow, and Legal Aid. Slaughter has campaigned against

Heathrow Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdo ...

expansion. The Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush constituency underwent a boundary change for the 2010 general election, and on 30 November 2006, the new Hammersmith

Constituency Labour Party A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituencies. In Sc ...

selected Slaughter as the Labour candidate for the new

seat which he won in the 2010 general election with an increased majority.

In government

He was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to

Stephen Ladyman Stephen John Ladyman (born 6 November 1952) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet from 1997 until 2010. He served as a minister in the government of Tony Blair between 2003 and 2007, latte ...

MP, Minister of State for the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

and served from November 2005 to June 2007. In June 2007, he was appointed PPS to Lord Malloch-Brown,

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

at the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...

, and also served as PPS to Lord Digby Jones, Minister of State at the

and

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade ...

, and between July 2007 and October 2008. On 27 January 2009, he resigned his PPS role as he opposed the Government's plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

In opposition

In October 2010, Slaughter was invited to join the Labour frontbench as

Shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...

Justice Minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

. Slaughter served as the lead shadow minister opposing the

Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10) (LASPO) is a statute of the Parliament of the United Kingdom enacted by the Cameron–Clegg coalition, coalition government of 2010-2015, creating reforms to the justice syst ...

and the Justice and Security Act 2012. He resigned in June 2016, citing concerns over

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

's leadership. He supported

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 ...

in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election. Slaughter was appointed as Shadow Minister for Housing in October 2016; however he was sacked from the frontbench in June 2017 after he voted in favour of an amendment to the

Queen's Speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or their representative, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened. The address sets fo ...

which called on the UK to remain in the

European Single Market The European single market, also known as the European internal market or the European common market, is the single market comprising mainly the member states of the European Union (EU). With certain exceptions, it also comprises Iceland, ...

, in defiance of the Labour

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

. In the

November 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle On 29 November 2021, Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, carried out a reshuffle of his shadow cabinet. The slimmed down shadow cabinet, was seen to be Starmer creating a top team in his own image. Considered a surpr ...

, he became the new Shadow Solicitor General. On 15 November 2023, Slaughter voted for an SNP amendment to the King's Speech, demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, contrary to the Labour Party's official stance to support

HM Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

line on the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. He was dismissed by 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 ...

from his position as Shadow Solicitor General.

References

External links

*
Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Andrew Slaughter MP
*
Andrew Slaughter's Chambers

''Ealing Gazette'' newspaper column
written by Andrew Slaughter and other Ealing MPs
''Ealing Times'' newspaper column
written by Andrew Slaughter and other Ealing MPs until 2008
BBC Politics
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, Andy 1960 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham People educated at Latymer Upper School Alumni of the University of Exeter People from Hammersmith Politicians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham People from Fulham UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 UK MPs 2024–present British republicans Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East