Alex Sobel

Alexander David Sobel (born 26 April 1975) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds North West since the 2017 general election. He also served as Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment from 2021 to 2023.[1][2]

Alex Sobel
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment
In office
4 December 2021 – 5 September 2023
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byOlivia Blake
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Shadow Minister for Tourism and Heritage
In office
9 April 2020 – 4 December 2021
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byKevin Brennan
Succeeded byJeff Smith
Member of Parliament
for Leeds North West
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byGreg Mulholland
Majority10,749 (21.8%)
Member of Leeds City Council
for Moortown
In office
3 May 2012 – 3 May 2018
Preceded byMark Harris
Succeeded byMohammed Shahzad
Personal details
Born
Alexander David Sobel

(1975-04-26) 26 April 1975
Leeds, England
Political partyLabour Co-op
Alma materUniversity of Leeds
Websitealexsobel.co.uk

Early life

Born in Leeds on 26 April 1975, Sobel grew up in Beaconsfield attending Holtspur Middle School and John Hampden Grammar School. [3][4][5][6] As a teenager, he joined anti-fascist and environmental protests in Leeds.[7] After graduating in information systems at the University of Leeds in 1997, Sobel worked with social enterprises, and ran the regional body Social Enterprise Yorkshire and the Humber from 2009 until 2017.[8][9]

Political career

Sobel joined the Labour Party in 1997.[7] In the 2005 general election, he was the Labour candidate for the Beaconsfield constituency.[7] Having previously run unsuccessfully in Leeds City Council elections from 2002 to 2007, he was elected as a Labour councillor for the Moortown ward in the 2012 council election, and was re-elected in the 2016 council election.[10][11] He led the council's work on air pollution and climate change.[12] In the 2015 United Kingdom general election, he unsuccessfully contested the Leeds North West constituency. During the election, Sobel and the Leeds North West Labour Party were required to publish an apology leaflet and pay legal costs after falsely claiming that the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland voted for the Academies Act 2010.[13] In December 2015, Sobel co-founded the activist group Open Labour.[14]

At the 2017 general election, he was elected as MP for Leeds North West, gaining the seat from Greg Mulholland who represented the Liberal Democrats.[15][16] In October 2017, Sobel was elected as one of the officers of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on rare, genetic and undiagnosed conditions.[17] In 2019, he formed an All-Party Parliamentary Group aiming to reduce carbon emissions to net zero as early as possible.[18]

In July 2019, Sobel became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry.[18] Sobel was re-elected at the 2019 general election with an increased majority of 10,749.[19]

In January 2020, Sobel apologised after receiving criticism for meeting with the director of Population Matters, a controversial human population control charity.[20]

In April 2020, Sobel became shadow minister for arts, heritage and tourism.[21]

In December 2021, Alex Sobel MP became Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment.[1] He left the position in the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle.[22]

Personal life

Sobel is married with two children and lives in Leeds.[23]

References
  1. "Alex Sobel: Parliamentary career". UK Parliament. Retrieved 14 June 2023. Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) 4 December 2021 - Present
  2. "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  3. "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11779.
  4. "Alex Sobel MP". myparliament.info. MyParliament. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  5. "Sobel, Alexander David, (born April 1975), MP (Lab Co-op) Leeds North West, since 2017 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U289494. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  6. "Beaconsfield: Alex Sobel (Labour)". Bucks Free Press. 25 April 2005. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  7. "MP Alex Sobel discusses abuse and being in Labour despite antisemitism crisis". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  8. "About Alex". Alex Sobel. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  9. "Labour and Green Party election candidates announced for Leeds North West". Ilkley Gazette. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  10. "Leeds City Council Election Results 1973-2012" (PDF).
  11. "Sobel, Alexander David". Who's Who. Vol. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 14 February 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  12. "Real time #ElectionLeaflet monitoring". ElectionLeaflets.org. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  13. "Labour party forced to send out apologies". Ilkley Gazette. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  14. Letters (9 December 2015). "Time to unite Labour's democratic left - Letters". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  15. Bryson, Julia (9 June 2017). "Young vote against Lib Dems in Yorkshire". Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  16. "Leeds North West". Election 2017. BBC. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  17. "The Westminster All Party Parliamentary Group on Rare, Genetic and Undiagnosed Conditions". Genetic Alliance UK. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  18. "Shadow Foreign Office role for MP". Ilkley Gazette. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  19. Hyde, Nathan (13 December 2019). "Leeds Labour MP slams party over antisemitism and calls for new leader". Leeds Live. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  20. Cooper, Joe (31 January 2020). "Leeds MP Alex Sobel apologises for meeting 'controversial' population size charity". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  21. "Shadow Cabinet post for Otley's MP". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  22. "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  23. Cohen, Justin (16 July 2017). "New Jewish MP 'proud' to represent city his immigrant parents made home". Jewish News. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
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