Who we are

Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP has been the Labour Member of Parliament for Kingston upon Hull North since 2005. 

In government Diana was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for Schools in the Department for Children, Schools and Families. In opposition Diana has served in a number of Front Bench roles including Shadow Home Office and Foreign Office Minister. In the 2017-19 Parliament Diana was a member of the Health and Social Care Select Committee and since May 2020 has been a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee.  

In the 2020 New Year’s Honours, Diana was appointed as Dame Commander for her charitable and political work.

Paul was born in Co. Durham 60 years ago, and grew up in Ferryhill and Newton Aycliffe before moving to Darlington. He attended school at Dean Bank Primary School in Ferryhill, Sugar Hill Primary School, Newton Aycliffe and The Avenue Comprehensive School.

Paul qualified as an Accountant and his career included positions at Darchem, Perstop-Warerite, Blue Circle and Wilsonart.

Paul joined the Conservative Party in 2010 and has been an elected County and Borough Cllr.

Paul secured a 4,513 majority in Sedgefield in the last General Election. He is committed to the Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda to build stronger and more resilient communities in the areas that have historically most lacked investment in both physical and social infrastructure.

Contact information

Name: Jonathan Vasey, Senior Parliamentary Assistant to Paul Howell MP
Email: jonathan.vasey@parliament.uk

Nicola Richards was elected to Parliament at the general election in December 2019, representing the constituency of West Bromwich East – an area that has not elected a Conservative MP since 1931. She is one of the youngest MPs currently sitting in the House of Commons and holds positions on the Select Committee for Exiting the European Union and the Women and Equalities Select Committee.

Nicola is passionate about delivering on the manifesto commitments she stood on at the general election, especially her commitment to ‘levelling-up’ the West Midlands and tackling educational and health inequality in her constituency.  Before entering politics, Nicola worked for a number of charities, including the Holocaust Educational Trust.

She is still a Councillor on Dudley Council – a position she has held since 2015.

Judith Cummins has been the Member of Parliament for Bradford South since 2015. Since being elected she has campaigned to increase opportunities for her constituents and bring more investment into her local area. She regularly speaks in Parliament on issues such as regional investment, social mobility, education, health, and transport. She is also the Chair of the APPG for Rugby League.  She lives in her constituency with her husband and two children.

Sharon Hodgson is the Labour Member of Parliament for Washington and Sunderland West.

Sharon was elected to Parliament for the Gateshead East and Washington West constituency in 2005. Following boundary changes, Sharon was elected for the new seat of Washington and Sunderland West in 2010.

Sharon has served in Government as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Home Office, Defence and Health Ministers, as well as sitting on the Children, Schools and Families, Regulatory Reform and the North East Regional Select Committees. In 2009, Sharon was appointed a Government Whip.

In Opposition Sharon has been Shadow Minister for Children and Families (2010-13); Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities (2013-15); Shadow Children and Families (2015-16), Shadow Public Health Minister (16-2020) and currently serves as the Shadow Minister for Veterans.

Jack Brereton was born and bred in Stoke-on-Trent, and lives locally with his wife Laura and their son William.

As a local man, and a councillor since 2011, Jack has extensive experience in the local community. As the City Council cabinet member for regeneration, transport and heritage. In this role, he was responsible for delivering £500 million of investment into Stoke-on-Trent to improve local infrastructure.

Jack stood in the Stoke-on-Trent Central Byelection in 2017, and in Stoke-on-Trent South in the General Election later that year, taking the seat from the Labour Party for the first time in 82 years. In Parliament, Jack continued to raise issues affecting Stoke-on-Trent, supporting the Government’s position in the Brexit negotiations at every stage. He now serves as PPS to the Secretary of State for Defence.

Emma Lewell-Buck is the Labour Member of Parliament for South Shields, elected in 2013. Born in South Shields in 1978, she is also the first woman to represent the town.

Emma’s career in politics began when she was 24. As a South Tyneside councillor, Emma was Lead Member for Adult Social Care and Health, where she oversaw the biggest transformation of social care in the town, saving the council millions and improving services. As a ward councillor in Jarrow she played a pivotal role in the opening of a second Tyne Tunnel in 2011. Emma’s path to becoming an MP has been colourful and varied, from selling dusters in pubs across the North East to promoting bars and nightclubs on Newcastle’s Quayside. As a social worker specialising in child protection, Emma was frequently required to work in violent and dangerous environments. This experience, along with growing up on Tyneside in the 1980s, shaped Emma’s politics and she has long been committed to fighting for social justice for the most vulnerable in society.

Emma is a member of the Defence Committee and she was formerly a Shadow Minister within the Communities and Local Government team and was the Shadow Minister for Children and Families in the Education Team.

Emma was a founder member of an All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hunger which led to the establishment of the national hunger charity Feeding Britain, which Emma is a Trustee of. In January of this year, the Big Issue listed her as one of its’ ‘Changemakers of 2020’ for her work in this area.