Bill Esterson
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Shadow Minister for Roads
Assumed office
5 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byGill Furniss
Shadow Minister for Business and Industry
In office
4 December 2021 – 5 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Shadow Minister for International Trade
In office
18 October 2016 – 4 December 2021
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Keir Starmer
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byNia Griffith
Shadow Minister for Small Business
In office
18 September 2015 – 9 April 2020
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byToby Perkins
Succeeded byLucy Powell
Member of Parliament
for Sefton Central
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byConstituency Created
Majority15,122 (29.7%)
Member of Medway Council
for River
In office
1 May 2003 – 3 July 2010[1]
Member of Medway Council
for Town
In office
1 April 1998 – 1 May 2003
Member of Rochester-upon-Medway City Council
for St Margaret’s and Borstal
In office
4 May 1995 – 31 March 1998
Personal details
Born
William Roffen Esterson

(1966-10-27) 27 October 1966
Kent, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Leeds
WebsiteOfficial website

William Roffen Esterson[2] (born 27 October 1966)[3] is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sefton Central since 2010. He has been Shadow Minister for Roads since 2023.[4] He was Shadow Minister for Small Business from 2015 to 2020.

Education and early life

Esterson attended Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School in Rochester, Kent.[5] He holds a joint degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from the University of Leeds. After graduation, Esterson trained with an accountancy firm and subsequently became director of a training consultancy.[6]

Political and Parliamentary Career

Prior to his election as an MP, Esterson was a councillor for River Ward in Medway.[7] When Medway Council was created in 1997, Esterson was elected to represent Town Ward. He represented Town Ward until 2003, when boundary changes were implemented. He was a councillor for St Margaret's and Borstal ward on Rochester-upon-Medway City Council which was dissolved to form Medway Council.[8] During his time as a councillor, Esterson served on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Education; Community and Local Government; and Treasury Select Committees.[9]

At the 2010 general election, Esterson stood for election in the newly created constituency of Sefton Central as the Labour Party candidate. He was elected with 41.9% of the vote, receiving a majority of 3,862.[10]

Esterson contributed to the Hillsborough debate in the House of Commons on 17 October 2011 by reading directly the words of a bereaved father. In September 2011 he contributed to the book What next for Labour? Ideas for a new generation. His chapter was entitled A Campaigning Party.[11]

In January 2015, Esterson proposed a bill which would introduce compulsory labelling of alcoholic drinks warning about potential dangers from drinking during pregnancy.[12] At the 2015 general election, Esterson was re-elected as the MP for Sefton Central with an increased majority of 11,846 and an increased vote share of 53.8%.[13] He was made Shadow Minister for Small Business following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015.[14] However, he supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election.[15] In October 2016, he was made Shadow Minister for International Trade.[9]

At the snap 2017 general election, Esterson was again re-elected as the MP for Sefton Central, again with an increased majority of 15,618 and an increased vote share of 63.0%.[16]

At the 2019 general election, Esterson was again re-elected as the MP for Sefton Central, this time with a decreased majority of 15,122, and a decreased vote share of 57.5%.[17]

Esterson endorsed Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[18] After Starmer's victory in the contest, Esterson was sacked as Shadow Small Business Minister, but reappointed as Shadow International Trade Minister.[9] He became Shadow Minister for Business and Industry as part of Starmer's shadow cabinet reshuffle.[19] In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, he became Shadow Minister for Roads.[4]

Personal life

Esterson is married with two children.[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Bill Esterson". Medway Elects. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  2. ↑ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9118.
  3. ↑ "Bill Esterson MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  5. ↑ "Hinterland: Bill Esterson MP". TotalPolitics.com. 16 May 2011.
  6. 1 2 "Bill Esterson". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Bill Esterson". politics.co.uk.</ref
  8. ↑ "Medway Council Election - 4 May 2000". medwayelects.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 Parliamentary Career for Bill Esterson MP, UK Parliament, n.d., retrieved 19 August 2020
  10. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefton_Central_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_2010s
  11. ↑ Profile Archived 21 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, whatnextforlabour.com; accessed 17 May 2016.
  12. ↑ "Women should not drink 'at all' during pregnancy, says MP". BBC News. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  13. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefton_Central_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_2010s
  14. ↑ "Bill Esterson: "We're clearly going to be worse off outside the European Union"". Politics Home. 25 February 2020.
  15. ↑ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  16. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefton_Central_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_2010s
  17. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefton_Central_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_2010s
  18. ↑ Bill Esterson [@Bill_Esterson] (4 January 2020). "Decades of fighting injustice. Radical ideas for taking our country forward. Formidable ability to hold the Tories to account. Skills to bring our party together and win next time. Just some of the reasons I'm backing #keirforleader" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. ↑ Rodgers, Sienna. "Keir Starmer unveils new frontbench team after wider reshuffle". LabourList. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
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