Adam Thompson (politician)

Adam Thompson is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Erewash since 2024.

He stood for the neighbouring Amber Valley constituency for the previous general election in 2019.

Early life and education
Thompson attained a PhD in metrology from the University of Nottingham, following which he worked at the university as a research scientist in manufacturing engineering. He served as a union representative for research scientists at the institution as a member of the University and College Union. He also trained as a teacher, and has cited his experience working in schools during Michael Gove's tenure as Education Secretary as a key influence on his decision to enter electoral politics.

Political career
Thompson joined the Labour Party following the 2015 general election, inspired by a speech made by then-outgoing party leader Ed Miliband. Prior to his election as a Member of Parliament, he contested a number of local elections, including to Sandiacre Parish Council, Erewash Borough Council, and Derbyshire County Council. In the 2019 borough council election, he fell eight votes short of winning one of the three council seats in Long Eaton Central ward.

Shortly ahead of the 2019 general election, he was selected as the Labour Party candidate in the Amber Valley constituency, which neighbours Erewash. He finished second, defeated by sitting Conservative MP Nigel Mills; Mills won with a majority of 16,886 votes (37%), the largest margin for any winning party in the seat since its creation in 1983. Mills was subsequently defeated at the 2024 general election by Labour candidate Linsey Farnsworth.

Thompson was serving as a Vice-Chair of Scientists for Labour in 2020 at the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In that role, he co-led a team which briefed the Shadow Cabinet during the crisis.

Thompson was selected as Labour's parliamentary candidate for Erewash in July 2022. He was endorsed in this process by the CWU, regional branches of UNISON, the GMB, and Unite, as well as the East Midlands branch of the Co-operative Party. At the time, he was also serving as secretary and campaign coordinator in the Erewash Constituency Labour Party.

He was the Labour Party candidate in Erewash at the 2024 general election, in which he defeated incumbent MP Maggie Throup. Thompson won by 5859 votes (13.6%), becoming the first Labour MP for Erewash since Liz Blackman; who had stood down 14 years earlier.

Personal life
He has resided in Long Eaton since 2019, having previously lived in Sandiacre from 2015.