Chris Ward (British politician)

Chris Ward is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven as a member of the Labour Party since 2024. Since July 2024 he has served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer.

Early life and education
Ward was born and grew up in Brighton, and his parents grew up in Peacehaven. Ward is a supporter of Brighton and Hove Albion. Ward joined the Labour Party at the age of 18 before attending the University of Warwick for his undergraduate degree and the University of Oxford for a Masters degree.

Career
Ward became a parliamentary researcher after leaving Oxford and would go on to spend 6 years working for Keir Starmer. Joining Starmer's staff in 2015, Ward was employed as a speechwriter and political adviser. Following Starmer's victory in the 2020 leadership election, Ward became one of Starmer's closest advisors as part of a group branded the "gang of five" by backbencher Labour MPs which included Morgan McSweeney and Jenny Chapman. Ward went on to become the Deputy Chief of Staff for Starmer before leaving his advisory role in July 2021.

After leaving his advisory role, Ward worked for Hanbury Strategy as a director starting in January 2022. Hanbury Strategy was a registered lobbying firm and political and public affairs consultancy company where he led the section dedicated to the Labour party. During his time at the company Hanbury advised clients including Amazon, Deliveroo, Flutter, UBS, Blackstone and Rockhopper, among others. During this time, Ward was also a writer for the conservative political publication The Spectator.

Ward was selected for the constituency of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven following the suspension of Lloyd Russell-Moyle from the Labour party on allegations dating back to 2016. According to political commentator Owen Jones, Ward had expressed an interest in becoming a member of parliament for a Brighton constituency many years prior. The suspension of Russell-Moyle triggered an emergency meeting the following day, immediately following which Ward was announced as the new candidate. More than 200 members of the Labour party protested the method of Ward's selection, and former leader of Brighton and Hove City Council Nancy Platts questioned the fairness of the process. Ward's campaign launch was interrupted by pro-Palestine protests over the Israel–Hamas war, and was accused of being a parachute candidate.

Political views
Ward is considered to be on the right of the Labour party in terms of political opinions, and is seen as being a great supporter of Starmerism.