Christopher Philip James Elmore (born 23 December 1983) is a

Welsh Labour Party Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...

politician. He has been

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for Ogmore since 2016.

Early life and career

Elmore was born in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

and lived in

Brynmawr Brynmawr (; , ,) is a market town, community and electoral ward in Blaenau Gwent, Wales. The town, sometimes cited as the highest town in Wales, is situated at above sea level at the head of the South Wales Valleys. It grew with the devel ...

and in Caerphilly as a child. He started his working life as a trainee butcher and later attended

Cardiff Metropolitan University , image_name = Shield of Cardiff Metropolitan University.svg , image_size = 150px , motto = cy, Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth , mottoeng = The most valuable possession is knowledge , established = 2011 – Car ...

completing a degree in History and Culture in 2005. Elmore then worked in a number of professions including further education. In 2008, Elmore was elected as a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for Casteland in the

Vale of Glamorgan Council The Vale of Glamorgan Council is the governing body for the Vale of Glamorgan, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It was run by the Conservative Party after the 2008 United Kingdom local elections, taking over the council from no overall cont ...

. Later he was appointed as a cabinet member for children's services and schools.

Parliamentary career

Elmore unsuccessfully contested the seat of

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

in the

2015 United Kingdom general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first and only general election held at the end of a Parliament under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Loca ...

before being selected as the Labour candidate in the 2016 Ogmore by-election, which was held on 5 May 2016. In June 2016, Elmore was joined the

Justice Select Committee The Justice Select Committee of the United Kingdom is a select committee of the House of Commons which scrutinizes the policy, administration, and spending of the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the committee examines the work of the Law Offi ...

before also joining the

Welsh Affairs Select Committee The Welsh Affairs Select Committee (or simply the 'Welsh Affairs 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 polic ...

in July. In October 2016, he was appointed to the frontbench position of

Opposition whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideolog ...

. He supported

Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a former Labour Party politician and subsequently a British lobbyist, who has been the UK government relations director for pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb since 2020. Smith was Member of Parliamen ...

in the failed attempt to replace

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the pol ...

in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election. Since his election as an MP, Elmore has particularly focused on issues that impact young people, often speaking in parliament and elsewhere on the subject. Youth engagement is an issue on which Elmore previously campaigned as a councillor. In 2017, Elmore was elected as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Rail in Wales. He has been a vocal opponent of the government's 2017 decision to cancel the planned electrification of the Great Western Mainline between Cardiff and Swansea. He has campaigned on issues including passenger safety. In April 2020, Elmore was made Shadow Minister for Scotland by new leader

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...

. In this role he supported Ian Murray,

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Scotland and his/her department, the Scotland Office. The incumbent holder of the office is Ian Murray ...

. He was also made a senior Opposition whip as a Shadow Lord Commissioner of HM Household.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elmore, Chris 1983 births Living people Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University Welsh Labour Party MPs Place of birth missing (living people) UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present Welsh Labour councillors People from Newport, Wales