Paul Waugh (born 1966 or 1967) is a British politician and journalist who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

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 ...

. Running under the Labour Co-op banner, he unseated George Galloway, the sole MP from the Workers Party of Britain, who had held the seat since a by-election five months earlier, on 29 February.

Early life and education

Waugh was born in Wardle,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and raised on a council estate in Spotland, Rochdale. Educated at Oulder Hill Community School, he later studied philosophy and physiology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and journalism at the University of Cardiff.

Journalism career

Waugh has been political editor of '' HuffPost UK'', editor of '' PoliticsHome'' and deputy political editor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', as well as the London ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

''. He also worked for the ''i'' newspaper and presented the '' Week in Westminster'' for the BBC.

Political career

Waugh had put himself forward to be the Labour candidate for the 2024 Rochdale by-election but lost the nomination to Azhar Ali, who in turn was suspended from the party. Waugh's wife works for the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

, and he has said potential improvement of the health system was one of the major motivating factors in running for Parliament. In the 2024 general election, he was elected as the

Labour and Co-operative 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 e ...

Member of Parliament for

. Waugh was critical of its previous MP George Galloway, labelling him as " Putin's parrot" and an extremist. Following his election to Parliament, Waugh was elected to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waugh, Paul Living people Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies British journalists UK MPs 2024–present Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Rochdale Year of birth missing (living people)