About Andy

Andy Sawford is the MP for Corby and East Northamptonshire.  He was elected in November 2012, gaining the first Parliamentary seat for Labour from the Conservatives in over a decade, and the first by-election gain since 1997.    Andy’s campaign involved the biggest ever listening exercise in the area, with contact made directly with tens of thousands of people in the area, who shared their views on local issues and priorities.  

 

Andy made six main pledges at the election and he is working hard to fulfil these in Parliament.   He speaks regularly on a broad range of issues and has also become involved in committees and all party groups.  Andy has been elected as a member of the Communities and Local Government Select Committee.  He is also a member of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on steel making, local government and local growth.  In December 2012 Andy served on the Standing Committee for the Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill, where he helped make the case for the adjudicator to have substantial powers to ensure a fairer deal between supermarkets, suppliers and consumers.    Andy has recently served on the Children and Families Bill Committee where he made the case for improvements to special educational needs and better childcare provision.  

 

Andy grew up in Desborough, a small Northamptonshire town near to Corby, where his Dad and Grandads were steelworkers.  He went to a local comprehensive school, then studied history at Durham University.  Andy’s first job was in a local leather goods factory and he has also worked in business and in public service.  Prior to his election Andy was Chief Executive of a national charity, the LGIU, that works to improve public services and give people more say in their running.  He was also a trustee of the Centre for Public Scrutiny and has been a school governor and a councillor.   Andy is married to Jo, a primary school teacher, and they have two children.  

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