Graham Stringer first elected as the Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton in Manchester in 1997, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 14,402.
The constituency of Blackley and Broughton covers the northern part of the City of Manchester around Charlestown, Cheetham, and Blackley, and the east of the city of Salford around Broughton and Kersal. This seat contains the Manchester Arena and the Strangeways Prison infamous for its 1990 riots. The seat also includes the inner city district of Harpurhey. It has a notable Asian population around Cheetham and an Orthodox Jewish community in Crumpsall and the Salford suburbs. Heaton Park in this constituency is one of the largest municipal parks in Europe. Although the boundaries have changed slightly over the years, this area has been a safe Labour seat since 1964.
Stringer served in the Blair Government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office between 1999 and 2001. He was then a government whip between 2001 and 2002.
Stringer was born in 1950. He was educated at Moston Brook High School for Boys, before studying chemistry at Sheffield University. Stringer worked as an analytical chemist in the plastics industry before becoming an MP.
Stringer was elected to Manchester City Council between 1979 and 1999. He was then the Leader of Manchester City Council for over 12 years between 1984 to 1996. He was also chair of Manchester Airport plc from 1996 to 1997.
Stringer gained some notoriety when he became the first MP to publicly call for Gordon Brown to resign as Prime Minister. He was also critical of Ed Miliband during his time as Labour leader.
Stringer was one of the few Labour MPs who called for Britain to leave the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum. He later became involved with the ‘Leave Means Leave’ group and was committed to the delivery of Brexit in Parliament.
Stringer’s views on climate change also differ from the mainstream in his party. He has been been a Trustee of the Global Warming Policy Foundation. In 2014 he opposed the Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee’s acceptance of the UN IPCC’s conclusion that humans are the dominant cause of global warming.
Stringer supported Lisa Nandy in the 2020 Labour leadership election.
Graham Stringer is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on City Regions Transport. He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Freedom of Speech; and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus;
He is married with three children.
Email: graham.stringer.mp@parliament.uk
Twitter: twitter.com/gstringermp
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Graham-Stringer/