Chris Vince
Christopher John Vince is a British Labour Co-op politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Harlow since 2024 [United Kingdom general election|2024]. He previously served as a Harlow District Councillor for Little Parndon and Town Centre ward from 2018 to 2024 and the head of Harlow's Labour group from 2021 to 2024.
Early life and education
Vince was born on 24 June 1983 and grew up in Chelmsford, Essex. He worked as a maths teacher until his election to Parliament.Political career
Vince ran as the Labour Party candidate for Chelmsford in the 2015 general election, where he lost to the Conservative incumbent Simon Burns by a margin of 18,250 votes. He then ran for Essex Police and Crime Commissioner in 2016, where he finished third below the UKIP candidate Bob Spink and the Conservative winner Roger Hirst. He then contested the Great Baddow seat on the Essex County Council in 2017 [Essex County Council election|2017], finishing third behind the Liberal Democrat candidate and the Conservative incumbent. The following month, he contested the Chelmsford seat in the 2017 general election, finishing second below the Conservative winner Vicky Ford by a margin of 13,572 votes.In March 2018, Vince replaced former Harlow Labour leader Jon Clempner, who had resigned following an alleged campaign against him by the organisation Momentum, as Labour candidate for the Harlow District Council by-election for the Little Parndon and Hare Street ward and won by a margin of 387 votes. In the 2019 [European Parliament election in the United Kingdom|2019 European Parliament election], he was the second of seven candidates on Labour's party-list for the East of England constituency, though none of the Labour candidates were elected. That December, Vince contested Hertford and Stortford in the 2019 general election, finishing second behind the Conservative candidate Julie Marson by a margin of 14,092 votes.
In the 2021 [Harlow District Council election], he won re-election to his Little Parndon and Hare Street seat by a margin of 82 votes. That same month, he finished fourth out of eight candidates for the Harlow West seat in the 2021 [Essex County Council election|Essex County Council election] as well as finishing second in the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner election. Vince was then selected to lead the Harlow Labour group, a role he resigned from in May 2024 following the party losing its majority on the council. In the 2024 Harlow [District Council election|2024 District Council election], Vince was again re-elected to the now-renamed Little Parndon and Town Centre seat, resigning the seat three months later after winning the Harlow parliamentary constituency from the Conservatives in the 2024 general election with a majority of 2,504 votes.