Alex Barros-Curtis | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forCardiff West | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Kevin Brennan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1986 (age 38–39) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
Alexandre Samuel Barros-Curtis[1] (born 1986)[2] is a BritishLabour party politician who has been theMember of Parliament forCardiff West since2024. Prior to his election, he was theLabour Party's Executive Director of Legal Affairs.
Barros-Curtis was born inNorth Wales. His mother was a teacher and his father was a police officer.[3] He went to Gronant Primary School andPrestatyn High School, subsequently studying law at theLondon School of Economics.[3]
Barros-Curtis had been a lawyer and marketing consultant.[4] In 2016 he was a senior parliamentary assistant toAndy Burnham MP[5] and, in the same year, was a close advisor toOwen Smith during Smith's attempt to become leader of the Labour Party. Barros-Curtis and his company, Movement for Another Future Limited, were linked to SirKeir Starmer's successful campaign to become Labour leader in April 2020.[6]
Later in 2020 Barros-Curtis became theLabour Party's Executive Director of Legal Affairs. Overseeing Labour's Compliance Unit, he was central to the party's plans to deal with allegations of anti-semitism.[4] He was criticised for his handling of costly legal action against five ex-Labour staff members who had been accused of leaking an internal report on anti-semitism. The cases were dropped on 6 June 2024, after costing the party at least £2.4 million.[7]
On 31 May 2024, it was announced Barros-Curtis had been selected as Labour candidate for the safeCardiff constituency ofCardiff West, after the sitting Labour MP,Kevin Brennan, had announced his intention to stand down. The selection had been made by a panel composed of Welsh Labour's Welsh Executive Committee and representatives from the local Labour parties.[8] Anger was expressed by Labour Party members that Barros-Curtis lived in London, had no connection to the area and had been "parachuted" onto the constituency[8] without meaningful local input into the decision.[9] It was reported that theSenedd member forCardiff West (and formerWales First Minister),Mark Drakeford, had refused to share the same office and was looking for new premises.[10]
Barros-Curtis won the Cardiff West election with approximately one third of the votes (16,442) with a majority of 7,019 over the second-placedPlaid Cymru candidate.[11] He said he wanted "to get to work straight away", make a home for himself in the area and convince the voters "not all politicians are the same".[11]
Barros-Curtis is openly gay and has a husband.[6]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCardiff West 2024–present | Incumbent |
