Leeds MPs
ANDREW, Stuart (born 1971) Conservative. Charity fund raiser.
He grew up in Anglesey, but failed to be elected as a Conservative candidate for Wrexham in the general election of 1997. He then joined Labour citing ‘the direction of the party’ as a reason for leaving the Tories. He later rejoined the Conservatives and after moving to Leeds became a councillor from 2003–2010. In the general election that year he was elected as MP for Pudsey in a dramatic victory where he turned a Labour majority of 5,870 into a Conservative one of 1,659. In the 2015 election, despite this being a considered a marginal seat, he held on to increase his share of the vote from 38.4% to 46.4%. He was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Patrick McLoughlin in the Department for Transport. Although a loyal Tory, Andrew does hold strong individual views. He supports equal gay rights, the right for terminally ill people to have assistance to end their lives, the abolition of hereditary members of House of Lords and more EU integration. He is a patron of LGB Tory. For further reading see http://www.stewartandrew.com.