Alexandre Samuel Barros-Curtis[1] (born 1986)[2] is a British Labour party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Cardiff West since 2024. Prior to his election, he was the Labour Party's Executive Director of Legal Affairs.
Alex Barros-Curtis | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament for Cardiff West | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Kevin Brennan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1986 (age 37–38) |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | London School of Economics |
Background
editBarros-Curtis was born in North Wales. His mother was a teacher and his father was a police officer.[3] He went to Gronant Primary School and Prestatyn High School, subsequently studying law at the London School of Economics.[3]
Career
editBarros-Curtis had been a lawyer and marketing consultant.[4] In 2016 he was a senior parliamentary assistant to Andy Burnham MP[5] and, in the same year, was a close advisor to Owen 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 Sir Keir Starmer's successful campaign to become Labour leader in April 2020.[6]
Later in 2020 Barros-Curtis became the Labour 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]
2024 general election
editOn 31 May 2024, it was announced Barros-Curtis had been selected as Labour candidate for the safe Cardiff constituency of Cardiff 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 the Senedd member for Cardiff West (and former Wales 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-placed Plaid 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]
Personal life
editBarros-Curtis is openly gay and has a husband.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Votes and Proceedings - Tuesday 9 July 2024". parliament.uk. 9 July 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
- ^ "Movement For Another Future Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ a b Mosalski, Ruth; Summer, Ben (3 July 2024). "General election 2024: Find out more about the candidates standing in Cardiff West". Wales Online. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ a b Harpin, Lee (29 June 2024). "Revealed: The lawyer at the centre of Starmer's efforts to tackle Labour's antisemtism problem". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Savage, Claudia (31 May 2024). "Think tank boss and former Starmer aide chosen as Welsh Labour candidates". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ a b "Meet Alex Barros-Curtis, the new Welsh Labour MP for Cardiff West". ITV News Wales. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- ^ Adu, Aletha (6 June 2024). "Labour drops lawsuit against ex-staffers accused of leaking antisemitism report". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ a b Mosalski, Ruth (1 June 2024). "The huge Labour general election row brewing in Wales which has left people furious". Wales Online. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Jones, Catrin Haf (1 June 2024). "Labour has undemocratic culture, says party member". BBC News. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ Shipton, Martin (24 June 2024). "Mark Drakeford refuses to share office with 'parachute' candidate". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
- ^ a b Mosalski, Ruth; Summer, Ben (5 July 2024). "Cardiff West general election 2024: constituency result in full". Wales Online. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
External links
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