Alex Sobel

Alexander David Sobel (born 26 April 1975) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds Central and Headingley since 2024. He previously represented the Leeds North West constituency from 2017 until the dissolution of Parliament on 30 May 2024. He served as Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment from 2021 to 2023.

Early life and career
Alexander Sobel was born on 26 April 1975 in Hyde Park, Leeds, to parents who came to England from Israel in 1971. He grew up in Beaconsfield, attending Holtspur Middle School and John Hampden Grammar School. As a teenager, he joined anti-fascist and environmental protests in Leeds.

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.

Political career before Parliament
Sobel joined the Labour Party in 1997.

After standing unsuccessfully in four Leeds City Council elections between 2002 and 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. He led the council's work on air pollution and climate change.

In December 2015, Sobel co-founded the activist group Open Labour.

Parliamentary career
At the 2005 general election, Sobel stood as the Labour candidate in Beaconsfield, coming third with 19.4% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP Dominic Grieve and the Liberal Democrat candidate.

At the 2015 general election, Sobel stood in Leeds North West, coming second with 30.1% of the vote behind the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland. 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.

Sobel was elected to Parliament as MP for Leeds North West at the snap 2017 general election with 44.1% of the vote and a majority of 4,224.

In October 2017, Sobel was elected as one of the officers of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on rare, genetic and undiagnosed conditions.

On 15 March 2019, Sobel supported Youth Strike for Climate, speaking at one of their school strikes, also praising Leeds City Council's decision to declare a Climate Emergency, saying "We will be the biggest council in the country to have declared a climate emergency. Nearly 800,000 people live in our great city".

In October 2019 Alex Sobel openly supported and spoke at an Extinction Rebellion occupation of Westminster, London despite warnings by the Met Police he could be arrested if he did so. "I'm here right in front of Parliament because the Government hasn't declared a climate emergency, they haven't conceded to any of three demands of Extinction Rebellion, and action needs to happen immediately,"

"We are not seeing a fall in our climate emissions, we are not seeing the transformation of our society that we need if we are to avoid warming of over one and a half degrees and the terrible climatic effects that will bring and what's really important here is one, we're building public pressure, and two we're pressuring the legislature, we're pressuring Parliament."

At the 2019 general election, Sobel was re-elected as MP for Leeds North West with an increased vote share of 48.6% and an increased majority of 10,749.

In December 2019, he formed an All-Party Parliamentary Group aiming to reduce carbon emissions to net zero as early as possible.

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

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

In March 2021, Sobel wrote a letter to Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on behalf of Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport (GALBA). "I have requested that the split decision of the cross party plans panel to grant the new terminal and extend flight times at Leeds Bradford Airport be called in by the Government. This application was predicated on an expansion of flights equating to 3 million more passengers annually which is not in keeping with the sixth and subsequent UK carbon budgets which calls for no net increase in aviation emissions, nor is it in keeping with the recent Heathrow judgement in the Supreme Court."

"I do not believe that a local plans panel of 14 councillors is in any way a competent body to be making a decision of this significance. Applications which significantly affect the Carbon Budget must be made nationally. We need a national aviation plan and significant measures to reduce net emissions from UK flights. I look forward to seeing these in the Government's response to the Committee on Climate Change's Sixth Carbon Budget Report." In December 2021, Sobel became Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment. He left the position in the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle.

In July 2023 the New Statesman named Sobel within a small list of Labour MPs who understand climate change. In this article he was described by Richard Benwell as having a "Hermione Granger-style time-turner because he is indefatigable in turning up to almost every environment event".

Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the Headingley and Weetwood wards of the Leeds North West constituency were moved into the newly-created constituency of Leeds Central and Headingley. In March 2024, Sobel was selected as the Labour candidate for Leeds Central and Headingley at the 2024 general election. He was elected as MP for the new seat of Leeds Central and Headingley with 50.2% of the vote and a majority of 8,422 over the second-placed Green Party candidate. There were eight candidates, and a turnout of 45 %. The result was described as "Labour Hold" because the notional 2019 result for the new seat was a win for Labour.

Personal life
Sobel is married, with two sons and lives in Leeds.