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Bill Esterson

Bill Esterson
Official portrait, 2020
Chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee
Assumed office
11 September 2024
Preceded byAngus MacNeil
Shadow Minister for Roads
In office
5 September 2023 – 5 July 2024
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byGill Furniss
Shadow Minister for Business and Industry
In office
4 December 2021 – 5 September 2023
LeaderSir Keir Starmer
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Shadow Minister for International Trade
In office
18 October 2016 – 4 December 2021
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Sir Keir Starmer
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byNia Griffith
Shadow Minister for Small Business
In office
18 September 2015 – 9 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byToby Perkins
Succeeded byLucy Powell
Member of Parliament
for Sefton Central
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byConstituency Created
Majority18,282 (38.5%)
Member of Medway Council
for River
In office
1 May 2003 – 3 July 2010[1]
Member of Medway Council
for Town
In office
1 April 1998 – 1 May 2003
Member of Rochester-upon-Medway City Council
for St Margaret’s and Borstal
In office
4 May 1995 – 31 March 1998
Personal details
Born
William Roffen Esterson

(1966-10-27) 27 October 1966 (age 58)
Kent, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Leeds
WebsiteOfficial website

William Roffen Esterson[2] (born 27 October 1966)[3] is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sefton Central since 2010. He was Shadow Minister for Roads from 2023 to 2024,[4] and was Shadow Minister for Small Business from 2015 to 2020.

Early life and career

William Esterson was born on 27 October 1966. He attended Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School in Rochester, Kent.[5] He holds a joint degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from the University of Leeds. After graduation, Esterson trained with an accountancy firm and subsequently became director of a training consultancy.[6]

Prior to his election as an MP, Esterson was a councillor for River Ward in Medway.[7] When Medway Council was created in 1997, Esterson was elected to represent Town Ward. He represented Town Ward until 2003, when boundary changes were implemented. He was a councillor for St Margaret's and Borstal ward on Rochester-upon-Medway City Council which was dissolved to form Medway Council.[8] During his time as a councillor, Esterson served on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Education; Community and Local Government; and Treasury Select Committees.[9]

Parliamentary career

At the 2010 general election, Esterson was elected to Parliament as MP for Sefton Central with 41.9% of the vote and a majority of 3,862.[10]

Esterson contributed to the Hillsborough debate in the House of Commons on 17 October 2011 by reading directly the words of a bereaved father. In September 2011 he contributed to the book What next for Labour? Ideas for a new generation. His chapter was entitled A Campaigning Party.[11]

In January 2015, Esterson proposed a bill which would introduce compulsory labelling of alcoholic drinks warning about potential dangers from drinking during pregnancy.[12]

At the 2015 general election, Esterson was re-elected as MP for Sefton Central with an increased vote share of 53.8% and an increased majority of 11,846.[13][14]

He was made Shadow Minister for Small Business following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015.[15] However, he supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election.[16] In October 2016, he was made Shadow Minister for International Trade.[9]

Esterson was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 63% and an increased majority of 15,618.[17] At the 2019 general election, Esterson was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 57.5% and a decreased majority of 15,122.[18][19]

Esterson endorsed Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[20] After Starmer's victory in the contest, Esterson was sacked as Shadow Small Business Minister, but reappointed as Shadow International Trade Minister.[9] He became Shadow Minister for Business and Industry as part of Starmer's shadow cabinet reshuffle.[21]

In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, he became Shadow Minister for Roads.[4]

At the 2024 general election, Esterson was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 56.4% and an increased majority of 18,282.[22]

In November 2024, Esterson voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.[23]

Personal life

Esterson is married with two children.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Bill Esterson". Medway Elects. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  2. ^ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9118.
  3. ^ "Bill Esterson MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  5. ^ "Hinterland: Bill Esterson MP". TotalPolitics.com. 16 May 2011.
  6. ^ a b "Bill Esterson". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  7. ^ "Bill Esterson". politics.co.uk.</ref
  8. ^ "Medway Council Election - 4 May 2000". medwayelects.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  9. ^ a b c Parliamentary Career for Bill Esterson MP, UK Parliament, n.d., retrieved 19 August 2020
  10. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ^ Profile Archived 21 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, whatnextforlabour.com; accessed 17 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Women should not drink 'at all' during pregnancy, says MP". BBC News. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  13. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Sefton Central". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  15. ^ "Bill Esterson: "We're clearly going to be worse off outside the European Union"". Politics Home. 25 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  17. ^ "General Election 2017: who is standing for election". Liverpool Echo. 11 May 2017.
  18. ^ "Statement of persons nominated 2019".
  19. ^ "Sefton Central parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  20. ^ Bill Esterson [@Bill_Esterson] (4 January 2020). "Decades of fighting injustice. Radical ideas for taking our country forward. Formidable ability to hold the Tories to account. Skills to bring our party together and win next time. Just some of the reasons I'm backing #keirforleader" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Rodgers, Sienna (4 December 2021). "Keir Starmer unveils new frontbench team after wider reshuffle". LabourList. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  22. ^ "Sefton Central - General Election Results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  23. ^ "Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading". Votes in Parliament. 29 November 2024.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Sefton Central
2010–present
Incumbent