Chris Bryant

Chris Bryant has been the Labour MP for Rhondda since 2001. Bryant graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Oxford, and went on to be ordained as a deacon in 1986 and as a priest in 1987. In 1991, Bryant began working as an election agent for the Holborn and St Pancras Constituency Labour Party, where he helped Frank Dobson retain his seat in the 1992 general election. By 1993, he had been elected to Hackney Borough Council. In 1997, Bryant contested Wycombe, which he narrowly lost by 2370 votes. Four years later, Bryant was elected as the MP for Rhondda with a majority of 47.2 per cent. During his time in parliament, Bryant has held many high-profile roles, including deputy leader of the House of Commons (2008-9), as parliamentary under-secretary for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (June 2009-October 2009), and parliamentary under-secretary for Europe (2009-2010). Since Labour left office he has served as shadow leader of the House of Commons (2015-16) and was briefly shadow culture secretary from May 2015 to September 2015. In 2011, Bryant was named Stonewall’s Politician of the Year for his work in promoting equality for the LGBT community. After being successfully treated for skin cancer in 2019, Bryant has also focused his attention on Welsh cancer services, arguing that more needs to be done in order to save lives and that he wants Wales to “raise its game.” In September 2019, Bryant announced that he would be running in the race to succeed John Bercow as Speaker of the House and after a tight race lost to Sir Lindsay Hoyle by 213 votes to 325. He was re-elected at the 2019 general election with a slightly reduced majority of 11,440 and nominated Jess Phillips in the 2020 Labour leadership election.