Wikipedia

Alex Sobel

Alexander David Sobel (born 26 April 1975) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Leeds Central and Headingley since 2024, and previously for Leeds North West from 2017 to 2024.

Alex Sobel
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Ukraine
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2025
Preceded byLord Johnson of Lainston
Member of Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byGreg Mulholland
ConstituencyLeeds North West (2017–2024)
Leeds Central and Headingley (2024–present)
Majority8,422 (26.7%)
2021–2023Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment
2020–2021Arts, Heritage and Tourism
Member of Leeds City Council
for Moortown
In office
3 May 2012 – 3 May 2018
Preceded byMark Harris
Succeeded byMohammed Shahzad
Personal details
BornAlexander David Sobel
(1975-04-26) 26 April 1975 (age 51)
Hyde Park, Leeds, England
PartyLabour / Co-operative
Children2
EducationJohn Hampden Grammar School
University of Leeds
Websitealexsobel.co.uk

During his time in Opposition, he served as Shadow Minister for the Arts, Heritage and Tourism (2020–2021) and Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment (2021–2023). He has been a prominent parliamentary voice on climate and environmental policy, and in January 2025 was appointed the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Ukraine.[1]

Early life

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Sobel was born on 26 April 1975 in Hyde Park, Leeds, to Israeli parents who had emigrated[2] to England in 1971 and whose family originally came from Lviv, Ukraine.[3][4] He is Jewish.[5][6]

He grew up in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, attending Holtspur Middle School and John Hampden Grammar School.[7] As a teenager he participated in anti-fascist and environmental protests in Leeds. He studied information systems at the University of Leeds, graduating in 1997.[8]

Early career

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After graduating, Sobel worked in the social enterprise sector for two decades. From 2009 to 2017 he ran Social Enterprise Yorkshire and the Humber, the regional representative body for the sector.[9]

Sobel joined the Labour Party in 1997.[10] He stood unsuccessfully for Leeds City Council four times between 2002 and 2007, before being elected as a Labour councillor for the Moortown ward in 2012. He was re-elected in 2016, and left the council in 2018.[11] On the council, he led work on air quality and climate change.[12]

Parliamentary career

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Elections and constituency

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Sobel first stood for Parliament at the 2005 general election as the Labour candidate in Beaconsfield, coming third with 19.4% of the vote behind the Conservative incumbent, Dominic Grieve, and the Liberal Democrat candidate.[13]

At the 2015 general election, Sobel stood in Leeds North West, coming second with 30.1% of the vote behind the incumbent Liberal Democrat, Greg Mulholland.[14][15] During the election, Sobel and the Leeds North West Labour Party were required to publish an apology leaflet and pay legal costs after falsely claiming that Mulholland had voted for the Academies Act 2010.[16]

At the snap 2017 general election, Sobel was elected as the MP for Leeds North West with 44.1% of the vote and a majority of 4,224.[17] He was re-elected in 2019 with an increased vote share of 48.6% and a majority of 10,749.[18]

Following the 2023 boundary review, the Headingley and Weetwood wards were transferred from Leeds North West into the newly created constituency of Leeds Central and Headingley. At the 2024 general election, Sobel stood in the new seat and was elected with 50.2% of the vote, and a majority of 8,422 over the second-placed Green Party candidate, on a turnout of 45%.[19][20]

Labour Party roles

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Sobel, Miatta Fahnbulleh, Tracy Brabin, Nathalie Pettorelli, Chris Skidmore and Dale Vince at Zero Hour's Labour Party conference fringe event (Liverpool, September 2024).
Sobel, Miatta Fahnbulleh, Tracy Brabin, Nathalie Pettorelli, Chris Skidmore and Dale Vince at Zero Hour's Labour Party conference fringe event (Liverpool, September 2024).

In December 2015, Sobel co-founded Open Labour, an internal Labour Party pressure group representing the soft left tradition within the party.[21]

In July 2019, Sobel was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry.[22]

In April 2020, he was appointed Shadow Minister for the Arts, Heritage and Tourism, and in December 2021, he became Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment; a position he held until the September 2023 shadow cabinet reshuffle.[23]

Sobel is a founding member of Mainstream, a centre-left network within the Labour Party launched in September 2025.[24]

Committee membership and APPG roles

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Sobel has sat on the Joint Committee on Human Rights since November 2024.[25] He served on the Environmental Audit Committee from September 2017 until February 2021,[26] including on a fact-finding visit to the Arctic Circle.[27] He holds several All-Party Parliamentary Group roles, including serving as chair of the Ukraine, Fair Elections,[28] Global Deforestation and West Papua APPGs, and as co-chair of the Students[29] and Music APPGs.[30]

Climate and environment

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On 15 March 2019, Sobel spoke at a Youth Strike for Climate rally in Leeds, praising the city council's declaration of a climate emergency.[31] In October 2019, despite warnings from the Metropolitan Police that he could face arrest, Sobel publicly supported and spoke at an Extinction Rebellion occupation of Westminster, arguing that the government's failure to act on emissions required direct action.[32]

In December 2019, he founded and chaired the Net Zero APPG to advocate for clean industrial policy and accelerate the UK's transition away from fossil fuels.[33]

In March 2021, he wrote to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick on behalf of the Group for Action on Leeds Bradford Airport, urging MHCLG to review approval of Leeds Bradford Airport's expansion on the grounds that it conflicted with Britain's carbon emissions reduction targets.[34]

Sobel has represented the UK at international climate and nature summits, including the UN Climate Change Conference COP26—when he was the Inter-Parliamentary Union Rapporteur and met with Pope Francis[35]—as well as the UN Convention on Biodiversity Conference COP16.

In July 2023, the New Statesman named Sobel among a small group of Labour MPs with a strong grasp of climate and nature policy. Wildlife and Countryside Link CEO, Richard Benwell, described him as appearing to have a "Hermione Granger-style time turner, because he is indefatigable in turning up to almost every environment event".[36]

Alex Sobel MP, March 2024.

Sobel has been an advocate for the Climate and Nature Bill, co-sponsoring it in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 parliamentary sessions before presenting it himself in March 2024.[37] He also co-sponsored the bill when it was reintroduced by Roz Savage in October 2024. At its second reading in January 2025, debate was adjourned by 120 votes to 7,[38] and Sobel was subsequently appointed a vice-chair of the cross-party group, the Climate and Nature Crisis Caucus.[39]

Ukraine and international affairs

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Sobel chairs the Ukraine APPG and Labour Friends of Ukraine, and has led five parliamentary delegations to the country, including driving aid convoys to frontline cities such as Kharkiv.[40][41] He has called for stronger UK support for Ukraine's defence and reconstruction, including the repurposing of frozen Russian state assets to fund recovery efforts,[42] and led a debate on non-recognition of Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.[43]

In January 2025, Sobel was appointed the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Ukraine,[44] a non-ministerial role focused on identifying trade and investment opportunities for British businesses.[45] Sobel has highlighted the potential for Leeds to play a role in Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, noting the city hosts the UK's largest annual infrastructure event and is twinned with Kharkiv.[46]

Other parliamentary activity

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In January 2020, Sobel apologised after receiving criticism for meeting the director of Population Matters, a charity focused on human population size, which some commentators regard as promoting controversial views on population control.[47]

In October 2020, Sobel joined with parliamentarians from the US, Israel, Canada and Australia to launch an Inter-parliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism, aimed at holding social media platforms accountable for the spread of antisemitism and conspiracy theories. Later, in December 2025, a constituent was sentenced to eight weeks in prison for sending over 300 antisemitic and threatening messages to Sobel's office, an act the judge stated "undermines the democratic process".[48]

In July 2025, he was among more than 100 Labour MPs who co-signed a letter urging the UK Government to formally recognise a Palestinian state and facilitate unhindered humanitarian aid to Gaza.[citation needed]

In the same month, during the passage of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, Sobel voted on two occasions against the Labour majority to oppose proposed cuts to disability benefits, one of a small number of rebellions he has recorded against the party line.[49]

Personal life

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Sobel is married, has two sons, and lives in Leeds. In Who's Who 2025, he lists his recreations as "attending indie gigs, running, cycling, video games, going to the gym".[50][51]

His stated political inspirations include Nelson Mandela, Lech Wałęsa, Barbara Castle and Robin Cook, whom he met on several occasions.[52]

References

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  1. ↑ "UK appoints trade envoy to Ukraine". Ukrainska Pravda. 29 January 2025.
  2. ↑ Cohen, Justin. "New Jewish MP 'proud' to represent city his immigrant parents made home". Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  3. ↑ "Alex Sobel's account of delivering aid to Ukraine". APPG Digital Services. 6 March 2023.
  4. ↑ "Alex Sobel MP: Many of my family murdered in the Shoah 'are just ghosts of the past'". Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "New Jewish MP 'proud' to represent city his immigrant parents made home". Jewish News. 16 July 2017.
  6. ↑ Rullo, David (30 March 2026). "Jewish Member of UK Parliament visits Pittsburgh". jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  7. ↑ "Beaconsfield: Alex Sobel (Labour)". Bucks Free Press. 25 April 2005.
  8. ↑ "Sobel, Alexander David". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2025.
  9. ↑ Ainsworth, David. "Social enterprise man goes all the way 'to test state of the sector'". www.thirdsector.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Alex Sobel discusses abuse and being in Labour despite antisemitism crisis". www.thejc.com. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  11. ↑ Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project: Moortown ward".
  12. ↑ "Real-time election leaflet monitoring". ElectionLeaflets.org.
  13. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Leeds North West". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  16. ↑ "Labour party forced to send out apologies". Ilkley Gazette. 9 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  17. ↑ "Leeds North West". BBC News. 9 June 2017.
  18. ↑ "Leeds North West General Election 2019 results in full". Manchester Evening News. 12 December 2019.
  19. ↑ "Leeds Central and Headingley: General election results, 2024". BBC News. 7 July 2024.
  20. ↑ "Leeds MP re-elected by landslide promises to 'continue work on human rights'". Yorkshire Evening Post. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  21. ↑ "Time to unite Labour's democratic left". The Guardian. 9 December 2015.
  22. ↑ "Shadow Foreign Office role for MP". Ilkley Gazette. 30 July 2019.
  23. ↑ "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. 8 September 2023.
  24. ↑ "Open Labour launches Mainstream Labour network". LabourList. September 2025.
  25. ↑ "Alex Sobel MP: Profile". Parallel Parliament.
  26. ↑ "Environmental Audit Committee membership changes". Hansard, UK Parliament.
  27. ↑ "Shadow Foreign Office role for MP". Ilkley Gazette. 30 July 2019.
  28. ↑ "Why Westminster's biggest parliamentary group is calling for a commission on electoral reform". Politics Home. 8 May 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  29. ↑ Osler, Lenny (24 November 2025). "Bristol SU meets with MPs to voice tuition fee concerns in Parliament". Epigram. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  30. ↑ "Alex Sobel: APPG officer roles". Parallel Parliament. 13 April 2026.
  31. ↑ "MP speaks at youth climate change rally as City Council declares 'climate emergency'". Alex Sobel MP. 19 March 2019.
  32. ↑ Scott, Geraldine (9 October 2019). "'My wellbeing is less important than the planet': Alex Sobel speaks at Extinction Rebellion demonstrations". Yorkshire Evening Post.
  33. ↑ "Home". Alex Sobel MP.
  34. ↑ "GALBA welcomes Alex Sobel's support in calling-in the LBA expansion application". GALBA.
  35. ↑ "Alex Sobel meets Pope ahead of COP26 as Catholic leader emphasises 'crucial' role for politicians on climate". Yorkshire Post. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  36. ↑ Bourke, India (19 July 2023). "Who in Labour gets climate and nature?". New Statesman.
  37. ↑ "Alex Sobel leads a cross-party effort to introduce the newly-named Climate and Nature Bill". Zero Hour. 21 March 2024.
  38. ↑ "Climate and Nature Bill: Division 91, 24 January 2025". Hansard, UK Parliament.
  39. ↑ "Climate and Nature Crisis Caucus". CNCC.
  40. ↑ "The Mace Questionnaire: Alex Sobel". Mace Magazine.
  41. ↑ "When our APPG delivered aid to Ukraine it was deeply personal for me". Politics Home. 4 March 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  42. ↑ "Ukraine is Europe's frontier: Labour must stay resolute in its defence". LabourList. 24 February 2026.
  43. ↑ "MPs to hold a debate on non-recognition of Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine - Committees - UK Parliament". committees.parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  44. ↑ "New 'global growth team' appointed by Trade Secretary". GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  45. ↑ "UK appoints trade envoy to Ukraine". Ukrainska Pravda. 29 January 2025.
  46. ↑ "Alex Sobel announces new role as UK Trade Envoy to Ukraine". The Gryphon. 10 February 2025.
  47. ↑ "Leeds MP Alex Sobel apologises for meeting 'controversial' population size charity". Yorkshire Evening Post. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  48. ↑ "Man jailed over antisemitic messages to Leeds MP Alex Sobel". BBC News. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  49. ↑ "Alex Sobel: Division votes". Parallel Parliament.
  50. ↑ "Sobel, Alexander David". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2025. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U289494.
  51. ↑ "Unparliamentary Language: Alex Sobel MP". Politics Home. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
  52. ↑ "The Mace Questionnaire: Alex Sobel MP". Mace Magazine.
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