Bill Esterson
{{Short description|British politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Bill Esterson
| honorific-suffix = MP
| image = Official portrait of Bill Esterson MP crop 2.jpg
| caption = Official portrait, 2020
| office = Chair of the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee
| term_start = 11 September 2024
| term_end =
| predecessor = Angus MacNeil
| successor =
| office1 = Shadow Minister for Roads
| leader1 = Keir Starmer
| term_start1 = 5 September 2023
| term_end1 = 5 July 2024
| predecessor1 = Gill Furniss
| office2 = Shadow Minister for Business and Industry
| leader2 = Sir Keir Starmer
| term_start2 = 4 December 2021
| term_end2 = 5 September 2023
| predecessor2 = Office established
| successor2 = Office abolished
| office3 = Shadow Minister for International Trade
| termstart3 = 18 October 2016
| termend3 = 4 December 2021
| leader3 = Jeremy Corbyn
Sir Keir Starmer
| predecessor3 = Office established
| successor3 = Nia Griffith
| office4 = Shadow Minister for Small Business
| termstart4 = 18 September 2015
| termend4 = 9 April 2020
| leader4 = Jeremy Corbyn
| predecessor4 = Toby Perkins
| successor4 = Lucy Powell
| office9 = Member of Parliament
for Sefton Central
| parliament =
| majority9 = 18,282 (38.5%)
| term_start9 = 6 May 2010
| predecessor9 = Constituency Created
| successor9 =
| office10 = Member of Medway Council
for River
| term_start10 = 1 May 2003
| term_end10 = 3 July 2010{{cite news |url= https://www.medwayelects.co.uk/?page=candidates&id=esterson.william |title=Bill Esterson |publisher=Medway Elects |access-date=10 January 2023 }}
| office11 = Member of Medway Council
for Town
| term_start11 = 1 April 1998
| term_end11 = 1 May 2003
| office12 = Member of Rochester-upon-Medway City Council
for St Margaret’s and Borstal
| term_start12 = 4 May 1995
| term_end12 = 31 March 1998
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|10|27|df=y}}
| birth_place = Kent, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| birthname = William Roffen Esterson
| nationality = British
| party = Labour
| alma_mater = University of Leeds
| website = {{Official website|https://www.billesterson.com/}}
}}
William Roffen Esterson{{London Gazette|issue=61230|date=18 May 2015|page=9118}} (born 27 October 1966){{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/representatives/profiles/83727.stm|title=Bill Esterson MP|publisher=BBC|work=BBC Democracy Live|access-date=25 July 2010}} is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sefton Central since 2010. He was Shadow Minister for Roads from 2023 to 2024,{{Cite web |title=Meet our Shadow Cabinet |url=https://labour.org.uk/people/shadow-cabinet/ |access-date=2023-09-09 |website=The Labour Party |language=en}} and was Shadow Minister for Small Business from 2015 to 2020.
Early life and career
William Esterson was born on 27 October 1966. He attended Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School in Rochester, Kent.{{Cite web|url=https://www.totalpolitics.com/articles/culture/hinterland-bill-esterson-mp|title=Hinterland: Bill Esterson MP|date=16 May 2011|website=TotalPolitics.com}} He holds a joint degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from the University of Leeds. After graduation, Esterson trained with an accountancy firm and subsequently became director of a training consultancy.{{cite web|title=Bill Esterson|url=http://www.politics.co.uk/reference/bill-esterson|website=Politics.co.uk|access-date=24 March 2015}}
Prior to his election as an MP, Esterson was a councillor for River Ward in Medway.{{cite web |title=Bill Esterson |url=http://www.politics.co.uk/reference/bill-esterson |website=politics.co.uk}} When Medway Council was created in 1997, Esterson was elected to represent Town Ward. He represented Town Ward until 2003, when boundary changes were implemented. He was a councillor for St Margaret's and Borstal ward on Rochester-upon-Medway City Council which was dissolved to form Medway Council.{{Cite web |title=Medway Council Election - 4 May 2000 |url=http://www.medwayelects.co.uk/?page=elections&id=20000504&list=all |access-date=2020-03-31 |website=medwayelects.co.uk}} During his time as a councillor, Esterson served on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Education; Community and Local Government; and Treasury Select Committees.
Parliamentary career
At the 2010 general election, Esterson was elected to Parliament as MP for Sefton Central with 41.9% of the vote and a majority of 3,862.{{cite web |title=Election Data 2010 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2010.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726162034/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2010.txt |archive-date=26 July 2013 |access-date=17 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}
Esterson contributed to the Hillsborough debate in the House of Commons on 17 October 2011 by reading directly the words of a bereaved father. In September 2011 he contributed to the book What next for Labour? Ideas for a new generation. His chapter was entitled A Campaigning Party.[http://www.whatnextforlabour.com/contributors Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321224721/http://www.whatnextforlabour.com/contributors/ |date=21 March 2016 }}, whatnextforlabour.com; accessed 17 May 2016.
In January 2015, Esterson proposed a bill which would introduce compulsory labelling of alcoholic drinks warning about potential dangers from drinking during pregnancy.{{cite news|title=Women should not drink 'at all' during pregnancy, says MP|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30714733|access-date=24 March 2015|work=BBC News|date=7 January 2015}}
At the 2015 general election, Esterson was re-elected as MP for Sefton Central with an increased vote share of 53.8% and an increased majority of 11,846.{{cite web |title=Election Data 2015 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017112223/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt |archive-date=17 October 2015 |access-date=17 October 2015 |publisher=Electoral Calculus}}{{cite news |title=Sefton Central |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000916 |access-date=10 May 2015 |publisher=BBC News}}
He was made Shadow Minister for Small Business following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Leader of the Labour Party in September 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/bill-esterson-were-clearly-going-to-be-worse-off-outside-the-european-union|title=Bill Esterson: "We're clearly going to be worse off outside the European Union"|date=25 February 2020|website=Politics Home}} However, he supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election.{{Cite web|url=https://labourlist.org/2016/07/which-mps-and-meps-have-nominated-owen-smith/|title=Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith|date=2016-07-21|website=LabourList|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-07-15}} In October 2016, he was made Shadow Minister for International Trade.{{citation|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/4061/career|title=Parliamentary Career for Bill Esterson MP|access-date=19 August 2020|date=n.d.|publisher=UK Parliament}}
Esterson was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 63% and an increased majority of 15,618.{{cite news |date=11 May 2017 |title=General Election 2017: who is standing for election |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/general-election-2017-who-standing-13023168 |work=Liverpool Echo}} At the 2019 general election, Esterson was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 57.5% and a decreased majority of 15,122.{{cite web |title=Statement of persons nominated 2019 |url=https://www.sefton.gov.uk/media/1617429/statement-of-persons-nominated-sefton-central.docx}}{{Cite news |title=Sefton Central parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/politics/constituencies/E14000916 |access-date=2019-12-13 |language=en-GB}}
Esterson endorsed Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.{{Cite tweet |user=Bill_Esterson |author=Bill Esterson |number=1213579973245706240 |date = 4 January 2020 |title=Decades of fighting injustice. Radical ideas for taking our country forward. Formidable ability to hold the Tories to account. Skills to bring our party together and win next time. Just some of the reasons I'm backing #keirforleader }} After Starmer's victory in the contest, Esterson was sacked as Shadow Small Business Minister, but reappointed as Shadow International Trade Minister. He became Shadow Minister for Business and Industry as part of Starmer's shadow cabinet reshuffle.{{Cite web|last=Rodgers|first=Sienna|title=Keir Starmer unveils new frontbench team after wider reshuffle|url=https://labourlist.org/2021/12/keir-starmer-unveils-new-frontbench-team-after-wider-reshuffle/|access-date=2021-12-04|website=LabourList|date=4 December 2021 |language=en-GB}}
In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, he became Shadow Minister for Roads.
At the 2024 general election, Esterson was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 56.4% and an increased majority of 18,282.{{cite web |title=Sefton Central - General Election Results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001463 |access-date=7 July 2024 |publisher=BBC News}}
Personal life
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20180412234543/https://www.billesterson.org.uk/ Official website]{{UK MP links | parliament = bill-esterson/4061 | publicwhip = bill_esterson | theywork = bill_esterson}}
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{{s-par|uk}}
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{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for Sefton Central|years=2010–present}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Esterson, Bill}}
Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds
Category:Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East
Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Category:People educated at Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School