21 Facts About Matt Western

Matthew Raymond Western was educated in St Albans, Hertfordshire and was privately educated at St Albans School.

Matt Western graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography from the University of Bristol in 1984.

Matt Western entered politics relatively late in life, and was elected to the Leamington Willes ward of Warwickshire County Council for the first time in 2013.

Matt Western was elected again in 2017 shortly before becoming an MP.

Matt Western was elected as Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington at the 2017 general election.

Matt Western was re-elected at the 2019 general election, and the 2024 general election.

Matt Western is the Chair of the Parliamentary Campaign for Council Housing, which aims to increase the number of council houses being built and represent the interests of council tenants, and is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Students.

In December 2017, Matt Western criticised the Warwick District Council for a proposal to relocate the council's offices to a new site in Leamington.

Matt Western objected to the plans, stating that the new development would consist of "100 per cent private housing, with no social, affordable or council housing on the site".

In September 2019, Warwick District Council leader Andrew Day asked Matt Western to "stop playing political games with the regeneration of town" over Matt Western's opposition to plans to relocate the council's headquarters.

In February 2019, Matt Western proposed a Bill that sought to limit the driving hours worked by bus drivers on local routes.

Matt Western asserted that he was simply "doing the right thing by cycling and not driving" in a town with issues with air quality.

Matt Western went on to say that the expenses were "HMRC-approved" and "that cycle mileage claims are considerably less than car mileage claims".

In June 2019, Matt Western led a Parliamentary debate on social housing.

In October 2019, Matt Western was a signatory to a letter calling for the Labour Party to adopt plans to build 100,000 Council Homes, in line with the Labour Campaign for Council Housing's proposals.

In March 2021, Matt Western was appointed Shadow Minister for Further Education and Universities after Emma Hardy stepped down.

Matt Western stood as the Labour candidate for Warwick and Leamington in the 2024 general election.

In December 2020, it emerged that Matt Western had written a foreword to a report at the centre of a climate lobbying controversy.

Matt Western has spoken in favour of electric vehicles, and from July 2019, served as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Electric Vehicles.

Matt Western is a signatory of the MPs Not Border Guards pledge, which vows to not report constituents to the Home Office for immigration enforcement.

Matt Western is married to Rebecca Earle, a history professor at Warwick University, and they live in Leamington.