Andrew Pakes

Andrew Elliot Pakes (born 24 April 1973 as Andrew Stone) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Peterborough since 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Party, he previously served as the 48th President of the National Union of Students (NUS) from 1998 to 2000.

Early life Pakes was born He had previously served as the organisation's National Treasurer from 1997 to 1998. Pakes was the second openly gay individual to be elected NUS president after Stephen Twigg (who was president from 1990 to 1992).

Following his term as NUS president, Pakes worked for the Association of University Teachers (AUT, now part of the University and College Union), and for the then-Deputy Mayor of London, Nicky Gavron. He later worked as a consultant on environmental and transport policy, and served as Chair of the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA, a Labour-linked environmental campaign) and as a member of the Labour Party's National Policy Forum, representing the affiliated socialist societies. He was a Councillor in the London Borough of Southwark from 2006 to 2010, standing down in that year to contest the Milton Keynes North parliamentary seat.

He was a special adviser to Mary Creagh, working with the shadow DEFRA team. and earlier worked for Connect Public Affairs.

From 2019 to 2022 Pakes was a trustee of Stonewall, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity. He was also a Board Member at CDS Co-Operatives, providing social housing and co-op housing services in London and the South East of England.

Parliamentary candidate Milton Keynes Pakes stood as the Labour and Co-operative Party parliamentary candidate in the constituency of Milton Keynes North at the 2010 general election, where he was defeated by the Conservative Party candidate Mark Lancaster on a swing of 9.2%. This was one of the largest swings from Labour to the Conservatives recorded in the United Kingdom during the 2010 general election.

Pakes was selected as Labour Co-op's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Milton Keynes South in the 2015 general election. Pakes went on to lose this election to Iain Stewart of the Conservative Party, with Stewart increasing his majority by almost 3,500 votes.

Peterborough In July 2022, Pakes was selected as the Labour Co-op candidate for the marginal Conservative seat of Peterborough, in preparation for the next general election.

In April 2025, he spoke with FE News about the need for a robust apprenticeship system in the United Kingdom that aligns with the industrial strategy, addressing the skills gap in the workforce. In May 2025, Pakes spoke during a House of Commons debate, and urged the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to end the use of one of Peterborough's hotels to house 146 people seeking asylum. Later that month, he urged Peterborough City Council to build an Olympic-sized swimming pool in the city. He said, "I believe we can get an indoor swimming pool built in Peterborough within five years. It should be built on the site of the now closed Peterborough Regional Pool as the council already owns the land. We need to be ambitious." In September 2025, he wrote to the Energy Minister, Michael Shanks, requesting a meeting together with a group of Prospect energy reps to discuss urgent issues of resiliency in the UK's electricity network.

Elections contested UK Parliament elections Date of election Constituency Party Votes % Result 2010 Milton Keynes North Labour Co-op 14,458 26.8 Not elected (2nd) 2015 Milton Keynes South Labour Co-op 18,929 32.1 Not elected (2nd) 2024 Peterborough Labour Co-op 13,418 32.0 Elected

Southwark Borough Council elections Date of election Ward Party Votes % Result 2006 Livesey Labour Party 1,698 45.9 Elected