Calvin Bailey

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Calvin Bailey

| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE|MP}}

| image = Calvin_Bailey_MP_portrait_cropped.jpg

| office = Member of Parliament
for Leyton and Wanstead

| term_start = 4 July 2024

| term_end =

| predecessor = John Cryer

| majority = 13,964 (32.0%)

| successor =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|15|1993|4|22}}

| birth_place = Zambia

| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|

}}

| children = 4

| party = Labour

| honorific_prefix = Wing Commander

| allegiance = United Kingdom

| branch = Royal Air Force

| serviceyears = 1999-2024

| rank = Wing Commander

| commands = No. LXX Squadron RAF
No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing

| awards = Member of the Order of the British Empire

| caption = Official portrait, 2024

}}

Calvin George Bailey {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}} (born 1977) is a British Labour Party politician and former Royal Air Force officer who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Leyton and Wanstead since 2024.

Early life and education

Bailey was born in 1977 in Zambia.{{cite news |last1=Adu |first1=Aletha |title='I'm compelled by service': ex-military Labour candidate Calvin Bailey |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/03/ex-military-labour-candidate-calvin-bailey |access-date=5 July 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=3 June 2024}} As a child, his family moved to London, where Bailey grew up in Plumstead and attended a now defunct comprehensive school. He was friends with the brother of Stephen Lawrence who was murdered in a racially motivated attack in 1995, is now "very embarrassed to say" to say that he illegally carried a knife in the aftermath.{{cite news |title=Labour's Calvin Bailey warns of right-wing threat as he wins in Leyton and Wanstead |url=https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2024/07/05/labours-calvin-bailey-warns-of-right-wing-threat-as-he-wins-in-leyton-and-wanstead/ |access-date=11 July 2024 |work=Waltham Forest Echo |date=5 July 2024}}

Bailey graduated with a Master of Engineering (MEng) degree from the University of Exeter in 1999. He later completed a Master of Arts (MA) degree in war studies at King's College London in 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.stjohns.excalibur.org.uk/about-us/staff-governors/#1562661229577-2726d919-6227|title=Staff & Governance at St John's|website=St John's Marlborough|accessdate=13 July 2024}}

Military service

On 3 October 1999, Bailey was commissioned in the Royal Air Force with the rank of pilot officer.{{London Gazette |issue= 55776 |date= 29 February 2000 |page= 2278 |supp= y }} He was promoted to flying officer on 3 April 2000,{{London Gazette |issue= 55848 |date= 16 May 2000 |page= 5368 |supp= y }} and to flight lieutenant on 3 April 2001.{{London Gazette |issue= 55848 |date= 15 May 2001 |page= 5800 |supp= y }}

In 2013, he was awarded the Air Medal by the President of the United States "in recognition of meritorious, gallant and distinguished services during coalition operations in Afghanistan".{{London Gazette |issue= 60456 |date= 22 March 2013 |page= 5741 |supp= y }} In February 2015, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the field during the period 1 October 2013 to 30 June 2014".{{London Gazette |issue= 61155 |date= 26 February 2015 |pages= 3472-3473 |supp= y }} He received the Royal Air Force Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 2018.

Bailey was promoted to wing commander on 30 August 2016.{{London Gazette |issue= 61829 |date= 24 January 2017 |page= 1415 |supp= y }} In 2020, he was officer commanding No. 903 Expeditionary Air Wing as part of Operation Shader.{{cite web |title=Reflections on Six Years of Operation SHADER |url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/stations/raf-brize-norton/news/reflections-on-six-years-of-operation-shader/ |website=raf.mod.uk |publisher=Royal Air Force |access-date=5 July 2024 |date=1 September 2020}} In May 2021, he became officer commanding No. LXX (70) Squadron RAF which operated the Airbus A400M Atlas.{{cite web |title=New Officer Commanding for LXX Squadron |url=https://www.raf.mod.uk/our-organisation/stations/raf-brize-norton/news/new-officer-commanding-for-lxx-squadron/ |website=raf.mod.uk |publisher=Royal Air Force |access-date=5 July 2024 |date=18 May 2021}} He was the detachment commander of the deployed Air Mobility Forces during Operation Pitting, the UK's military operation to evacuate British nationals and eligible Afghans from Kabul Airport, Afghanistan.{{cite web |title=Recording: The RAF Experience During Op PITTING |url=https://rusi.org/research-event-recordings/recording-raf-experience-during-op-pitting |website=rusi.org |publisher=The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies |access-date=5 July 2024 |language=en |date=6 December 2021 |quote=Wing Commander Calvin Bailey, the Detachment Commander of the deployed Air Mobility Forces as part of Op PITTING overseeing the flying operations}} It was his decision to double the number of passengers taken per flight, as the risk of overloading the aircraft was outweighed by the risk to the lives of those who would have been left behind.{{cite news |last1=Steafel |first1=Eleanor |title='If we get overrun now, I'm dead': the RAF aviators scarred by the Kabul airlift |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/02/afghanistan-squaddies-retreat-operation-pitting-airs/ |access-date=5 July 2024 |work=The Telegraph |date=2 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704061034/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/02/afghanistan-squaddies-retreat-operation-pitting-airs/ |archive-date=4 July 2023}}

Bailey retired from the Royal Air Force after 24 years and seven months of service, having been elected a Member of Parliament.

Political career

On 4 July 2024, Bailey was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Leyton and Wanstead with 20,755 votes (47.5%) and a majority of 13,964.{{cite news |title=Leyton and Wanstead - General election results 2024 |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001334 |access-date=5 July 2024}} On 24 July 2024, he made his maiden speech during a debate on the Global Combat Air Programme.{{cite Hansard |jurisdiction= United Kingdom |title= International Immunities and Privileges |url= https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-07-24/debates/202793E9-7E9C-4223-88B7-EBE105B5CF5A/details#contribution-14F84F18-D7F6-4ADB-8BF6-C3393BE66A9C |house= House of Commons |date= 24 July 2024 |volume= 752 |column_start= 684 |column_end= 686 |speaker= Mr Calvin Bailey |position=}}

In November 2024, Bailey voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.{{cite web |title=Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading |url=https://votes.parliament.uk/votes/commons/division/1877 |website=Votes in Parliament |date=29 November 2024}}

Personal life

Bailey has four children, two daughters and two sons. He has been a parent governor of St John's Marlborough, Wiltshire, since March 2003.{{cite web |title=Mr Calvin Bailey: Registered Interests |url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/5054/registeredinterests |website=MPs and Lords |publisher=UK Parliament |access-date=25 October 2024}}