Jon Trickett was first re-elected as the Labour MP for Hemsworth in West Yorkshire in a 1996 by-election being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 1,180.
The constituency of Hemsworth is found in the south eastern corner of West Yorkshire. Containing the towns of Featherstone and Hemsworth itself, this is a former mining area. Today much of the workforce commute to work in nearby Leeds, Barnsley, and Wakefield. This seat has been held by Labour continuously since the end of the First World War.
For much of the 1960s and 1970s, this was the safest Labour seat in the UK, with the party polling 85% of the vote here in 1966. In 2019, allied to the appearance of the Brexit party and a popular local independent candidate, the Labour vote collapsed by 18% and this seat, almost inconceivably in historical terms, was nearly won by the Conservatives.
Trickett served in the Shadow Cabinet under Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office between 2017 and 2020. He was the Labour Party National Campaign Co-ordinator between 2015 and 2017.
He was also Parliamentary Private Secretary to Gordon Brown when he was Prime Minister between 2008 and 2010. He had previously been one of a number of Labour MPs calling for Tony Blair to resign.
Born in 1950, Trickett has lived in Yorkshire all of his life. He went to school in Leeds before attending university in Hull and then in Leeds. He worked on building sites and as a plumber before becoming an MP. He is a strong trade unionist.
Trcikett was elected to Leeds City Council between 1984 and 1996. He was elected Leader of Leeds City Council in 1989.
Trickett is on the left of the Labour Party and a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs. He nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership in 2015. He backed Rebecca Long Bailey in the 2020 Labour leadership election.
Trickett is a long standing euro-sceptic, and although he is said to have been persuaded by Jeremy Corbyn to vote Remain in the 2016 EU referendum, he has previously expressed support for a ‘Labour Brexit’.
Trickett is married with three children.
Email: jtrickett@jontrickett.org.uk
Personal Website: www.jontrickett.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jon_trickett
