Gareth Craig Snell (born 1 January 1986) is a British politician who serves as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-on-Trent Central. He regained the seat at the 2024 general election having represented it from 2017 to 2019. A member of

Labour Co-op Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated to Labour Co-op; ) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidates contest elections under an el ...

, he was Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council from 2012 to 2014.

Early and personal life

Snell was educated at

Stowmarket High School Stowmarket High School is a co-educational secondary school located in Stowmarket, Suffolk in England. It was at one time known as Stowmarket Grammar School. 855 students from school years 7 to 11. Previously a community school administered ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, and graduated from

Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...

in 2008 after studying History and Politics. Snell served as general secretary of the Students' Union and founded Keele Labour Students. In May 2025, Snell married former Labour MP and Life Peer Ruth Smeeth in Gibraltar.

Political career

Snell unsuccessfully stood for election to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and 2008, but was finally elected to represent Knutton and Silverdale ward in May 2010. He was elected as the Leader of the Council after Labour won a majority at the 2012 local elections. During his tenure, the council became a living wage employer, joined the Co-operative Council network and implemented a 'no redundancies' policy. Seeking re-election in Chesterton ward, Snell's leadership came to an end upon narrowly losing to the

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

candidate in May 2014. However, he returned as a councillor in a by-election for Silverdale and Parksite ward in August 2016, and served until his term expired in May 2018. In January 2017, Snell was selected as the Labour Party candidate in the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election, triggered following the resignation of

Tristram Hunt Tristram Julian William Hunt, (born 31 May 1974) is a British historian, broadcast journalist and former politician who has been Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum since 2017. He served as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for Sto ...

. Held on 23 February, he won the seat with a reduced vote share but saw off a challenge from UKIP leader

Paul Nuttall Paul Andrew Nuttall (born 30 November 1976) is a British politician who served as Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2016 to 2017. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2009 as a UK Independence Party (UKIP) candidate, and ...

. He was re-elected with a majority of nearly 4,000 in the general election on 8 June 2017. This was an increase of the figure of 2,600 at the by-election, but compares to 20,000 from 1997. Snell lost his seat in the 2019 general election to Conservative Jo Gideon, predicting his defeat even before his result was announced on

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television. Snell regained the seat in the general election of July 2024. He received 14,950 votes, representing 42.4% share of the vote. His nearest rival received 8,541 votes.

Political views

Snell supported Remain in the 2016 EU referendum, but opposed a second referendum and supported an exit deal to avoid leaving without one.

West Midlands mayoral election

Between 2020 and 2021, Snell was campaign manager for the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Birmingham Hodge Hill Birmingham Hodge Hill was a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2004 to 2024 by Liam Byrne of the Labour Party. Under the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituenci ...

Liam Byrne Liam Dominic Byrne (born 2 October 1970) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North, previously Birmingham Ho ...

in the 2021 West Midlands mayoral election, where Byrne lost. Snell was in charge of managing volunteers and staff, as well as coordinating messaging and fundraising.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Snell, Gareth 1986 births Living people Alumni of Keele University Councillors in Staffordshire Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies People from Newcastle-under-Lyme People from Stowmarket UK councillors 2010–2014 UK councillors 2014–2018 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 Leaders of local authorities of England UK MPs 2024–present Spouses of life peers