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The UK General Election, in which Labour won a landslide victory, has seen 12 Â鶹ӳ»­ alumni elected to Parliament, taking seats across five political parties.  

This includes two members of Keir Starmer’s first Cabinet – Dr Peter Kyle as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology and Hilary Benn as Northern Ireland Secretary. 

The Â鶹ӳ»­ alumni elected in the 2024 elections are:  

Through these elected candidates, Â鶹ӳ»­ can be seen contributing to the success of the smaller political parties, as well as the three larger, long-established parties, with a broad spectrum of political views.

Meanwhile, longstanding Conservative MP and Â鶹ӳ»­ alum (Operations Research MSc) Michael Fabricant lost his Lichfield seat, having served as Member of Parliament since 1992. 

Â鶹ӳ»­ also had three students running as parliamentary candidates. Issy Waite, at just 21, who is currently completing a dissertation in International Relations, was Labour's youngest parliamentary candidate and narrowly lost out to Conservative leadership hopeful and Â鶹ӳ»­ alumni Kemi Badenoch, in the North West Essex constituency by 2,610 votes. 

In the newly contested constituency of East Grinstead and Uckfield, a Â鶹ӳ»­ triple-header saw student Ben Cox (who is studying Politics) run for Labour against Â鶹ӳ»­ alumni Christina Coleman (Green Party) and Benedict Dempsey (Liberal Democrats) but who all ultimately lost out to Conservative challenger and former Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, Mims Davies.  

Another Â鶹ӳ»­ student, Cas Lay (who is studying International Relations) also stood for the Green Party in North Devon.  Â鶹ӳ»­ alumni Alex Bulat in Huntingdon (Labour), Stephen McAuliffe in Arundel and South Downs (Green Party) and two staff members also stood but were unsuccessful in their election bids.   

Prof Sasha Roseneil, Vice-Chancellor of the Â鶹ӳ»­, said:  

“Â鶹ӳ»­ alumni, staff and students have a strong reputation for standing up for what they believe in and for making valuable contributions to their local communities. It was fantastic to see so many Â鶹ӳ»­ names among the 2024 parliamentary candidates, with a record 12 alumni successfully retaining or claiming seats in their respective constituencies.  

“Among those who stood were three current Â鶹ӳ»­ students. While not elected, they demonstrated great dedication to their communities by running – sometimes standing against Â鶹ӳ»­ alumni too.  

“The candidature of members of the Â鶹ӳ»­ community for five political parties (Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green, and Reform) at this general election, and the election of members of each of these parties, highlights the political diversity that exists at Â鶹ӳ»­. As a university, freedom of speech and academic freedom are foundational to our work, and at Â鶹ӳ»­ we embrace diversity of background, belief, identity, and thought. We encourage our staff and students to think critically, to engage in meaningful debate and respectful discussion, to stand true to their beliefs, and to contribute positively to the world around them.  

“These skills are essential in politics, as in work and life, and we look forward to seeing our alumni making real change in their new roles as MPs.”