Dan Norris | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Norris in 2009 | |
| Mayor of the West of England | |
| In office 10 May 2021 – 4 May 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Tim Bowles |
| Succeeded by | Helen Godwin |
| Member of Parliament forNorth East Somerset and Hanham Wansdyke (1997–2010) | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Jacob Rees-Mogg[a] |
| Majority | 5,319 (10.4%) |
| In office 1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Jack Aspinwall |
| Succeeded by | Jacob Rees-Mogg |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Environment | |
| In office 9 June 2009 – 6 May 2010 | |
| Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
| Preceded by | Joan Ruddock |
| Succeeded by | Richard Benyon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1960-01-28)28 January 1960 (age 65) London, England |
| Political party | Independent (2025–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Labour (until 2025) |
| Alma mater | University of Sussex (MA) |
| Website | Official website |
Dan Norris (born 28 January 1960) is a British politician who has served as theMember of Parliament (MP) forNorth East Somerset and Hanham since 2024. He previously served asMayor of the West of England from 2021 to 2025, and as the MP forWansdyke from 1997 to 2010.
Anindependent, he was formerly a member of theLabour Party, until he was suspended in April 2025 after being arrested byAvon and Somerset Police on suspicion ofrape,child sex offences,child abduction andmisconduct in a public office.
Norris served in government as theParliamentary-Under Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Environment from 2009 to 2010, and anAssistant Whip from 2001 to 2003. Norris was elected to Parliament for North East Somerset and Hanham in the2024 general election, defeatingJacob Rees-Mogg, who had defeated him in the 2010 election.
Norris was born on 28 January 1960 in London to David and June Norris.[1][2] June was a Labour councillor who contested theNorthavon constituency at the1983 and1992 general elections. David was a sales manager and social worker.[1]
Norris was educated atChipping Sodbury School and theUniversity of Sussex,[3] where he received aMaster of Arts in social work in 1988.[4] He worked as a teacher and child protection officer, having trained with theNSPCC.[1]
Norris was a councillor onBristol City Council for theBrislington West ward from 1989 to 1992 and from 1995 to 1997, and a councillor onAvon County Council from 1994 to 1996.[1][5][6] He is a member of theGMB trade union.[7]
Norris first stood for parliament in the constituency ofNorthavon in 1987, losing against theConservative incumbent,John Cope. In 1992, he was the Labour candidate forWansdyke in Somerset, coming in second place against the Conservative incumbent,Jack Aspinwall. He contested the Wansdyke seat again in the election of1997, and this time succeeded in taking it with a majority of 4,799, overturning a Conservative majority of 11,770 votes.[8] Norris went on to increase his majority to 5,613 in the election of2001.
Norris had an interest in child safety and regularly campaigned againstpaedophiles.[9][1] In 1999 he launched a booklet in the House of Commons to educate parents about paedophiles, published by the charitiesKidscape,Childline and the Lucy Faithful Foundation; it had a foreword written by Prime MinisterTony Blair. The guide was distributed to 1.5 million parents in his constituency and nearby areas.[10] Since 1998, Norris had advocated in parliament for the introduction of a UK version ofMegan's Law, which would enable parents and head teachers to inquire in a controlled way if high-risk sex offenders lived in their area, leading to the first UK trial of such a scheme in his constituency in 2007 before later widespread adoption as theChild Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme.[11][12] In 2005 Norris co-wrote, produced and distributed a booklet,Don't Bully Me, giving practical advice to children in the UK on dealing with bullying.[13]
Norris was anassistant whip for theTreasury from June 2001 to June 2003.[9][14] In May 2006 he was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) toSecretary of State for Northern IrelandPeter Hain until June 2007, then PPS toForeign SecretaryDavid Miliband to January 2009.[15] In the reshuffle of June 2009, Norris entered government as a minister for the first time, becomingParliamentary Under Secretary of State at theDepartment for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Minister for Rural Affairs and Environment).[16]
Norris had long campaigned againstfox hunting, supporting thelegislation outlawing it. On the final day of legal fox hunting, 28 February 2005, he was accosted byDuke of Beaufort's Hunt supporters in an incident atBadminton which was shown live on regional television news.[17]
The2005 general election saw his lead over the Conservatives fall to 1,839. In changes made by theBoundary Commission for England, the Wansdyke constituency underwent moderate boundary changes and was renamedNorth East Somerset ahead of the2010 election.[18][19][20] Norris stood in the new seat but was defeated by the Conservative candidateJacob Rees-Mogg.
Following his defeat at the2010 general election, Norris worked forDavid Miliband in his unsuccessfulbid for the Labour leadership.[21] In May 2012, Norris was shortlisted to be the Labour Party candidate for theBristol mayoral election, but did not win the selection.[22] In 2016 he was head of operations for theRussell Group of universities,[23] and he has run businesses.[24][25] Norris was critical ofJeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party's handling ofantisemitism, stating in anop-ed for theBristol Post, "today’s Labour leadership seems to have become highly uncomfortable in opposing racism when it is directed at Jewish people".[26]
In 2004, Norris was appointed to the board of theSnowdon Trust, a charity that supports students with physical disabilities.[21] Norris was an ambassador for the children's charityKidscape.[27][28]
Norris was also a trustee of theLeague Against Cruel Sports (LACS),[29] becoming chairman in October 2022.[17] During his chairmanship, Norris faced criticisms of political interference, with the then Chief Executive Andy Knott accusing Norris of putting pressure on him to "keep quiet" if Labour dropped its commitment to close loopholes in existing fox-hunting laws.[30][31] A group of former LACS members operating under the nameSave the League called for Norris to resign as Chair,[31] and Knott resigned as chief executive in June 2024 after claims of a "sustained harassment campaign".[30][32] Norris ultimately resigned as chairman following his arrest in April 2025,[33] and in that month a case was initiated in theHigh Court against LACS and Norris, in his role as chairman, by Knott for harassment and bullying.[34]
Norris was selected as theLabour Party candidate on 16 November 2020, defeating Bristol councillorHelen Godwin in a vote of local members by 1,611 votes to 1,558.[35] During the election campaign, the leader of the Labour PartyKeir Starmer visited Bath to campaign with him. They were asked to leave a pub by its landlord, who opposed the use of lockdowns as part of the government's response to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[36]
During the election campaign, Norris said that incumbent mayorTim Bowles was the "only metro mayor who doesn't have more powers than when he started", and that if elected he would seek more money and powers from central government.[37] He said he would establish a "Green Recovery Fund" to create 23,000 jobs by investing in "home retrofitting, tree-planting, flood and drought defences, and renewable energy".[38][39]
Norris was elected as the mayor of the West of England in the2021 mayoral election, a role which had previously been held by the ConservativeTim Bowles.[40] Upon taking office, he became entitled to the style ofMayor.[41] He credited his victory to the leadership ofKeir Starmer.[40] He said he would supportNorth Somerset and parts ofSomerset joining the combined authority, and he would seek additional funds for them.[42]
In his first public meeting of theWest of England Combined Authority (WECA), Norris vetoed a proposal supported by the leaders of the three constituent councils to spend £100,000 reviewing how the authority functions and makes decisions.[43] At a meeting in July, Norris and the council leaders rejected most of a climate action plan that the authority had been developing since 2019 as insufficiently ambitious, and agreed to begin developing a replacement.[44][45] Also in July 2021, Norris launched new schemes to support the creative and food industries in the region.[46][47]
In theOctober 2021 budget, the UK government allocated £540 million to WECA over a five-year period for public transport improvements, to predominantly be spent on improving bus services.[48][49] This included £48 million for apark and ride scheme near theM32 strategic corridor from South Gloucestershire to Bristol.[50] The funding is from theDepartment for Transport's City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements scheme.[49][51]
There was a dispute between WECA members and Norris over the mayor's powers,[52] in particular a power to veto alternative proposals to their joint committee which includedNorth Somerset Council. The four local authorities’ monitoring officers, who give legal advice, stated the veto could arguably amount to maladministration.[53] On 15 October 2021, the four council leaders did not attend a WECA meeting with the mayor, which meant over £50 million of spending decisions could not be made.[54][55] Norris stated: "I would agree that [my predecessor] gave into them, I am not prepared to do that ... I'm not really bothered about procedures or legal arguments, frankly. I'm determined to get policies through and things delivered." A former non-voting member of WECA,Vice-Chancellor of theUniversity of the West of England ProfessorSteve West, was appointed as mediator in the dispute.[56][57] In November 2021, after taking new legal advice, Norris agreed not to claim veto powers on decisions involving North Somerset.[58]
Following the publication of the Grant Thornton report, theDepartment for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities placed WECA on a monitoring watchlist, so if there is not improvement this could result in a "best value" improvement panel being imposed or government best value inspectors taking over control of WECA.[59] WECA was issued a "best value" notice by DLUHC in March 2024.[60] The government announced WECA had been released from "special measures" in March 2025.[61]
In November 2021, the combined authority submitted a plan for a "seamless" public transport system with a single brand and payment system across buses and trains and across different operators.[62]South Gloucestershire Council asked for funding from WECA for a pedestrianisation scheme onThornbury's high street, which Norris threatened to withhold unless the council further consulted residents.[63][64][65] In the same month, Norris signed WECA up to a charter committing to support staff diagnosed with terminal illness, and urged organisations across the West of England to do likewise.[66][67] He supported a strike by theUniversity and College Union in Bristol in December 2021.[68]
In 2023, Norris announced the launch of a "Birthday Pass", a concessionarybus pass that would allow commuters to travel on any bus route across the West of England free of charge during the month of their birthday.[69] A WECA scrutiny committee was critical of the scheme, noting that the £8 million project was “benefiting the richest 10 per cent significantly more than the poorest 10 per cent”.[70] The scheme also faced allegations of potential unlawful use of public funds, with £10,000 spent on a advertising wrap for a bus, which included three large images of the Mayor and his dog. While the report said while there is no problem in principle with the promotion of the scheme, or associating the metro mayor with it, the size of the images "appears to explicitly seek to affect public support of the metro mayor", rather than promote the bus pass scheme.[71][72] Norris defended the scheme, arguing that its uptake amongst middle class commuters were "precisely the people most needed to get out of their cars and onto public transport", and that the images needed to be so big as it was "used on a big bus".[70][73] The Birthday Bus Pass was extended for a second year in November 2024.[74] The Mayor faced criticism for using £120 of public money to pay for a bus-shapedbirthday cake that was fed to the Mayor's dog and journalists who attended the announcement of the extension.[75]
In September 2024, it was announced that Norris would be ineligible to seek re-election, following proposals adopted by the Labour government extend a ban on councillors remaining in their local government roles if they are elected to the House of Commons to other office holders, including Mayors.[76]
Following Norris' arrest in April 2025,The Daily Telegraph published the results of an October 2023 staff survey, which highlighted accusations against the Mayor of bullying and harassment at the WECA office. The survey raised concerns that there was “a need to ‘protect officers from the mayor’" and noted there had been an “unprecedented level of turnover” within some teams because of Norris’s “actions and decisions”.[77]
A major responsibility of WECA and the mayor is the development of a Spatial Development Strategy (SDS), which would guide major planning decisions in the area and thus development direction in the area.[78] The SDS is subject to unanimous WECA vote.[79] A somewhat similar Joint Spatial Plan was previously being developed by the area's unitary authorities in a four-year process, and included building three new "garden villages". In 2019, the plan was withdrawn after thePlanning Inspectorate criticised it as not "robust, consistent or objective".[80][81][82] Consequently, producing a SDS for WECA to agree became a priority for the new mayor.[83] The SDS covers the period to 2041, and was to have a 12-week public consultation before a public examination by thePlanning Inspectorate in early 2023.[84]
In March 2022, Norris stated that the region'sgreen belt was "not fit for purpose". He argued that there should be no overall green belt area reduction, but limited changes to extend urban areas in a few places should be permitted. At the time, there was a proposal by the owners of Bristol'sAshton Gate Stadium to build 500 homes on the neighbouring green belt as part of a "sporting quarter" development.[85][86]
The mayor and the leader of South Gloucestershire council disputed the amount of new housing proposed in WECA's forthcoming SDS, publication of which was deferred.[84][87] In May 2022, Norris told the government that agreement of a SDS was impossible, blaming South Gloucestershire council for leaving discussions, which was denied by South Gloucestershire's leader.[88][89] Subsequently, the three councils started developing their own individual Local Plans, which Norris had described as "parochial".[82][90]
In July 2024, Norris was elected to Parliament at the2024 general election forNorth East Somerset and Hanham, which covered largely the same area as his formerWansdyke constituency, defeatingJacob Rees-Mogg in a rematch of their 2010 contest.[91] He continued to hold the office of mayor of the West of England, although under "second job" rule changes implemented by the Labour Party in September 2024, he would not be able to stand for re-election as mayor in May 2025.[92][76]
Following hisarrest in April 2025, Norris was banned from theParliamentary Estate while a risk assessment was undertaken.[93] While this meant that he was unable to participate in parliamentary business, his constituency office remained open, and Norris continued to support constituents with local casework.[94] From May 2025, Norris began to vote on legislation again, by usingproxy voting, withChris Elmore, theWelsh Labour Party MP forBridgend, casting votes on Norris' behalf.[95] With each proxy vote, Norris has always voted in line with the government.[96] At the same time, Norris has also began to submit written questions to government ministers again.[95]
In September 2025, around 500 people signed achange.org petition calling on Norris to step down and for a by-election to be held, arguing that, while Norris "is innocent until proven guilty", his ability to represent the constituency has been "diminished" because of the current circumstances.[97] While indicative of public sentiment, the online petition is not a formalRecall Petition, which can only be triggered inspecific circumstances and would give constituents six weeks to signify if they want their MP to be recalled, with a by-election called if more than 10 per cent of the local electorate sign the recall petition.[97]
In April 2025, Norris was arrested on suspicion ofrape,child sex offences,child abduction andmisconduct in a public office.[98][99] In a statement,Avon and Somerset Police said: "Most of the offences are alleged to have occurred in the 2000s but we're also investigating an alleged offence of rape from the 2020s". He was released onconditional bail for enquiries to continue.[98][100] He was suspended by the Labour Party on 4 April 2025.[101]
On 8 April 2025, it was confirmed that Norris had been banned from theParliamentary Estate while a risk assessment was being undertaken, following the accusations made against him. Norris was also banned from entering the WECA headquarters in Bristol, and had his access to the Combined Authority's IT system deactivated. While he was also banned from attending meetings on behalf of WECA, he was not suspended as mayor because "there is no provision" under WECA's constitution for this action.[93][102]
Today I went back to school (at Chipping Sodbury School where I did my A levels)
Dan Norris, 56, a former Labour MP and head of operations at the Russell Group
Norris: Well, I think what's happened is that the issues that we're seeing now at the moment with me were also happening for my predecessor. I would agree that he probably gave in to them. I'm not prepared to do that where there are important issues about serving our community. So, you know, I was elected by the people. They are my first concern. I'm not really bothered about procedures or legal arguments, frankly. I'm determined to get policies through and get things delivered.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWansdyke 1997–2010 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forNorth East Somerset and Hanham 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Mayor of the West of England 2021–2025 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
