Lewis Malcolm Atkinson (born 1982 or 1983) is a British Labour Party politician and former NHS manager who has served as

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

Sunderland Central Sunderland Central is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It is represented by the Labour Party MP Julie Elliott, who has held the seat since its creation in 2010. Constituency profile The Sunderland Central constit ...

since 2024.

Early life and education

Lewis Malcolm Atkinson was born in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the ...

and was brought up in

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is bordered by all four other boroughs in Tyne and Wear – Gateshead to the west, Sunderland in the south, North Tyneside to the ...

. He studied at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Doroth ...

, where he studied Philosophy, politics and economics, and at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

, where he earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in healthcare leadership and management.

Career

NHS

Atkinson entered the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

(NHS) through the Graduate Management Training scheme. Atkinson began working in the North East NHS in 2005, having previously worked in the health team of the Treasury. Atkinson holds the NHS Leadership Academy's Nye Bevan in Executive Healthcare Leadership.

Political

In January 2012, Atkinson announced that he would run to be on the Labour Party National Executive Committee. In 2013, he was shortlisted to stand in

, but was not ultimately selected. Incumbent MP for

Julie Elliott Julie Elliott (born 29 July 1963) is a British Labour Party politician, who was first elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunderland Central in 2010. Elliott served as Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change from October 2013 to Sept ...

announced that she would not seek reelection at the 2024 general election, which Atkinson later described as a "total surprise." Three days later on 30 May 2024, Atkinson was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the constituency. He was elected in the 2024 general election, winning the seat with 16,852 votes (42.18% of the vote) with a majority of 15.2%. In November 2024, Atkinson voted in favour 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 2024 af ...

, which proposes to legalise

assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...

Personal life

Lewis Atkinson divorced and has 2 children.

References

External links

* Living people People from South Shields Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2024–present National Health Service people Alumni of the University of Birmingham Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford {{England-Labour-UK-MP-stub