Catherine Eccles is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

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 ...

, and a councillor in

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

since 2022 She has previously worked in hospital operating theatres as a senior

operating department practitioner In the United Kingdom, operating department practitioners (ODPs) are allied healthcare professionals who are involved in the planning and delivery of perioperative care. As the name suggests, they are primarily employed in surgical operating de ...

(ODP). She has been a member of the Labour Party for more than seven years.

Early political career

Eccles has been a local councillor for the Wollaston and Stourbridge Town ward, on

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, also known as Dudley Council, is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. The town of Dudley had been a borough since the thirteenth century, being reformed ...

, since 2022 She is a member of

Unison Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...

Unite the Union Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a trade union in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus (trade union), Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union. A general union ...

and the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

, and is a trustee of Wollaston Village Hall.

Parliamentary career

Eccles was selected as a

prospective parliamentary candidate In British politics, a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) is a candidate selected by political parties to contest under individual Westminster constituencies in advance of a general election. The term originally came into use because of ...

for the Labour Party in the constituency of

, a then

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both. With such seats, there is very little chance of a seat changing h ...

for the Conservative Party, in December 2023. She is the chair of the APPG on Visual Arts and Artists. In Parliament, Eccles made a number of interventions in support of the

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is a private members' bill (PMB) which proposes to legalise assisted suicide for terminally ill adults in England and Wales. The bill was introduced by Labour backbench MP Kim Leadbeater in October 20 ...

, which would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. In the second reading of the Bill, Eccles objected to the use of language describing assisted dying as assisted suicide, attempting unsuccessfully to raise a point of order in Parliament over terminology she considered "offensive". Eccles attracted criticism for visiting Israel in June 2025, as part of a trip organised by

Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...

References

External links

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2024–present People from Stourbridge {{UK-politician-stub