Damien Egan

Damien James Egan (born 1983 (age 40)) is a British Labour politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol North East, previously Kingswood, since 2024. He was previously the Mayor of Lewisham in Greater London from 2018 to 2024.

Early life and education
Damien Egan was born in 1983 (age 40) in Cork, Ireland, and grew up in northeast Bristol, England. During his childhood, his family became homeless and lived in temporary accommodation.

Egan attended Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School and Hanham High School. He studied at St Mary's University College in Twickenham before moving to Lewisham after graduating.

Political career
From 2003 to 2007, Egan was a parish councillor on Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council in Bristol before he moved to London.

Elected as a councillor for Lewisham Central in 2010, Egan was appointed Lewisham London Borough Council's cabinet member for housing in 2014.

In 2017, Egan was selected as the Labour Party's candidate for the directly elected mayoral elections in Lewisham in May 2018. He was elected Mayor of Lewisham with 54 per cent of the vote. In the 2022 mayoral elections, Egan was re-elected with an increased majority and 58 per cent of the vote.

Mayor of Lewisham
Egan was Mayor of Lewisham from 7 May 2018 to 9 January 2024. His priorities included schools, council homes, parks, climate action and making Lewisham the first Borough of Sanctuary in May 2021.

As mayor, Egan worked with the London Community Land Trust and Citizens UK to develop a community land trust providing affordable homes for Lewisham residents. Egan also supported other community land trust projects across Lewisham including London's largest self-build affordable housing project.

Egan faced accusations of forcing out Lewisham Council CEO Ian Thomas (then the only black chief executive of a local council) in November 2018, who had only been in post for seven months. Protests about his departure led to police being called to a council meeting.

Parliamentary career
At the 2005 general election, Egan stood as the Labour candidate for Weston-super-Mare, finishing third with 18.7 per cent of the vote behind the Conservative candidate John Penrose and the Liberal Democrat candidate Brian Cotter.

At the 2010 general election, Egan stood as the Labour candidate for Beckenham, where he finished third with 14.5 per cent of the vote behind the Conservatives' Bob Stewart and the Liberal Democrats. In July 2023, Egan was selected as Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate for Bristol North East. He defeated Bristol mayor Marvin Rees to win the candidacy for the new seat, which was established due to boundary changes at the 2024 general election.

On 15 February 2024, he became MP for Kingswood in South Gloucestershire at the Kingswood by-election, following the resignation of the Conservative MP Chris Skidmore. Egan was elected with 44.9% of the vote and a majority of 2,501.

Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Egan's constituency of Kingswood was abolished, and replaced with Bristol North East. At the 2024 general election, Egan was elected to Parliament as MP for Bristol North East with a vote share of 45.3% and a majority of 11,167.

Personal life
Egan is married to Israeli-born Yossi Felberbaum. Though raised a Catholic, Egan converted to Judaism, his husband's faith, at Bromley Reform Synagogue in 2018, two years after meeting Felberbaum.