Jonathan Ashworth | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Member of Parliament forLeicester South | |
| In office 5 May 2011 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Soulsby |
| Succeeded by | Shockat Adam |
| Shadow Cabinet | |
| 2023–2024 | Paymaster General |
| 2021–2023 | Work and Pensions |
| 2016–2021 | Health and Social Care |
| Shadow Minister | |
| 2015–2016 | Without Portfolio |
| 2013–2015 | Cabinet Office |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (1978-10-14)14 October 1978 (age 47) Salford,Greater Manchester, England |
| Political party | Labour Co-op |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | St Aidan's College, Durham (BA) |
| Signature |  |
Jonathan Michael Graham Ashworth (born 14 October 1978) is a British formerLabourand Co-op politician who was theMember of Parliament (MP) forLeicester South from2011 to 2024. He had served asShadow Paymaster General from September 2023. Having lost his seat at the 2024 general election, he was appointed chief executive of theLabour Together thinktank.[1]
Prior to his election to Parliament, Ashworth worked as an adviser toGordon Brown and head of party relations forEd Miliband.[2] He was first elected at aby-election in 2011, following the resignation of his predecessorPeter Soulsby. In October 2016, Ashworth was appointedShadow Health Secretary by party leaderJeremy Corbyn, shadowingJeremy Hunt and laterMatt Hancock alongside the Shadow Minister for Social CareBarbara Keeley.[3][4] In April 2020, Ashworth was reappointed to the position by new leaderKeir Starmer, gaining the additional shadow portfolio ofsocial care in England; he was succeeded in the role byWes Streeting in 2021. Ashworth wasShadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2021 to September 2023, when he was appointed as theShadow Paymaster General.[5]
Jonathan Ashworth was born on 14 October 1978 inSalford, was brought up in northManchester and educated atPhilips High School in Whitefield andBury College.[6] He read politics and philosophy at theUniversity of Durham.[7][8] In 2000 he served as National Secretary ofLabour Students.[9]
Ashworth began working for theLabour Party as a Political Research Officer in 2001, and was the Economics and Welfare Policy Officer from 2002 to 2004.[10] In 2003, he was seconded to theScottish Labour Party to work on theScottish Parliament election campaign, where he worked closely with then-Chancellor of the Exchequer,Gordon Brown.
From 2004, he was appointed asSpecial Adviser toChief Secretaries to the TreasuryPaul Boateng,Des Browne[11] andStephen Timms, but in practice he worked forChancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. His main job was liaising with the Labour movement and anEvening Standard profile said "his contact book was "stuffed with constituency officers and union organisers"; there was newspaper speculation that he would be Political Secretary at10 Downing Street in a potential futureBrown government.[12]
When Gordon Brown becamePrime Minister in June 2007, Ashworth was appointed deputy Political Secretary with the role of linking the Government to the trade unions.[9] There was speculation later that year that Ashworth might be selected to replaceJohn Prescott as the official Labour candidate forKingston upon Hull East,[13] although it came to nothing. Ashworth spent most of theCrewe and Nantwich by-election campaign in the constituency.[14]
After the Labour Party were defeated at the2010 general election, Ashworth became Political Secretary to the acting party leaderHarriet Harman. He did not publicly support any candidate in the subsequent leadership election because of his role working forHarriet Harman but he was described as a "key member" ofEd Miliband's team on the day after Miliband won theLabour leadership election.[15] When Miliband was elected as Leader of the Labour Party, he asked Ashworth to join his office as Head of Party Relations.[2]
Before the 2010 general election, Ashworth was identified as someone for whom the Labour Party leadership wished to find a seat. He was linked with a possible candidature inMansfield should the sittingMember of Parliament (MP)Alan Meale decide to stand down, but Meale decided to seek re-election despite widespread speculation he was to retire from Parliament. Ashworth was then identified as a potential candidate forNottingham East when the sitting MPJohn Heppell retired,[16] but the selection went to former MPChris Leslie when the LabourNational Executive Committee chose to impose Leslie at the last minute.[17]
Ashworth sought selection inLeicester South in 2011 when the sitting MPPeter Soulsby decided to resign to seek election asMayor of Leicester. He was endorsed by theCo-operative Party and, once elected, became a Co-operative Party MP.[18] Ashworth was selected as the Labour's Party's candidate. At the2011 Leicester South by-election, Ashworth was elected as MP for the seat with 57.8% of the vote and a majority of 12,078.[19]
Ashworth served as anOpposition Whip from October 2011 to October 2013 andShadow Minister of State for the Cabinet Office from October 2013 to September 2015.[20]
Following the row over alleged undue influence oftrade unions in the Labour Party in theFalkirk parliamentary selection in 2013, Ashworth penned a piece forThe Daily Telegraph claiming that it is ordinary people – not the unions – who choose Labour MPs.[21]
On 11 July 2013, Ashworth replacedTom Watson as Deputy Chairman of theNational Executive Committee.[22]
Ashworth was re-elected at the2015 general election with an increased vote share of 59.8% and an increased majority of 17,845.[23] After the election, Ashworth nominatedYvette Cooper to beLeader of the Labour Party following the resignation ofEd Miliband.[24] He nominatedTom Watson as Deputy Leader.[25]
Following his election as Labour Party leader,Jeremy Corbyn appointed Ashworth to theShadow Cabinet role ofShadow Minister without Portfolio.[26] In December 2015, Ashworth voted against the resolution to authoriseRAF bombing of ISIL in Syria.[27]
Ashworth was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Health in October 2016. Following the2017 general election, he went on record to say a Labour government would not repeal the controversial Health and Social Care Act 2012 despite Labour's manifesto commitment to do so.[28]
Ashworth was again re-elected at the2017 general election with an increased vote share of 73.6% and an increased majority of 26,261.[29]
In December 2019, it was reported 4,668 patient deaths during the year were linked to safety incidents at hospital, mental health and ambulance trusts. Ashworth held "years of Tory cutbacks" responsible for understaffing and for increasing pressures, which he said put patients at risk.[30]
On 10 December 2019, it emerged that Ashworth had told a friend that he did not believe Labour would win the2019 general election due to be held two days later. He said that this was largely due to the unpopularity ofJeremy Corbyn and voters outside the cities blaming Labour for not deliveringBrexit. His friend, who was a Conservative activist, leaked a recording of the conversation to right-wing websiteGuido Fawkes. Ashworth later claimed that he was joking and just "joshing around".[31] He was re-elected at the 2019 general election with a decreased vote share of 67% and a decreased majority of 22,675.[32] He was appointed to thePrivy Council on 10 March 2021,[33] and sworn on 26 May 2021.[34]
In theNovember 2021 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, Ashworth becameShadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.[35] He remained in the position until the2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, which saw him appointed to the position ofShadow Paymaster General.[5]
On 4 July 2024, Ashworth lost his seat to pro-Palestine independent candidateShockat Adam.[36] He then became chief executive of the think tankLabour Together.[37]
On 9 July 2024, Ashworth was appointed chief executive of theLabour Togetherthink tank.[1] In January 2025,The Times reported that Labour Together had maderedundancies, with up to 15% of staff leaving since the previous summer. One of these sources stated that Labour Together lacked "much of a purpose or sense of direction anymore", with few appearances from Ashworth and its director of policy Matthew Upton making decisions instead. One Labour Together member said that the group had "moved away from being a think tank that speaks publicly about policy", instead turning to "influencing government policy through private conversations with ministers and special advisers".[38]The Times highlighted that the think tank was "losing staff and donors" and was "faltering under the leadership" of Ashworth, with MPs reporting receiving an increasing number of job applications from staff at Labour Together and funders turning their attention to other think tanks aligned with theStarmer leadership.[39]
Under Ashworth's leadership,Labour Together have faced criticism over their "Farage-flavoured approach" to migration policy, and encouraging the Labour government to "[play] with fire" by leaning "into the anti-migrant policies and rhetoric employed by the populist far-right across Europe" by charity Asylum Matters.[40] TheLabourList article went on to say that Labour Together was proposing directions that lead to 'the road to a ruinous breakdown of community cohesion and the house of cards that is the progressive electoral coalition that brought Labour to power in the first place.'[40] Ashworth announced in April 2025 that he would be stepping down from the role of CEO at Labour Together in July, after one year in the role, focusing on writing a book and launching a new podcast.[41]
In July 2024, Ashworth was one of five politicians to cover forJames O'Brien's radio show onLBC, as part of the station's "Guest Week"[42]
In August 2024, Ashworth led a team of senior Labour figures to the2024 Democratic National Convention inChicago, Illinois, where he advised theHarris campaign on electoral strategy for the2024 US Presidential Election.[43] Harris subsequentlylost the election to former presidentDonald Trump.
In 2008, Ashworth became engaged to Emilie Oldknow,[citation needed] who later was a failed Labour candidate forSherwood at the2010 general election.[44] FormerPrime MinisterGordon Brown and his wifeSarah attended the couple's wedding on 3 July 2010,[45][full citation needed] atSt Michael's Church, Holbrook inDerbyshire.[46] The Ashworths have two daughters.[47]
Asshadow health secretary, Ashworth advocated legislation to preventalcoholism, inspired by his own experience of his father who was an alcoholic.[48]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLeicester South 2011–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Deputy Chair of theLabour Party 2013–2016 | Succeeded by Position abolished |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Minister without Portfolio 2015–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care 2016–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2021–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Shadow Paymaster General 2023–2024 | Succeeded by |
