40 Facts About Mike Amesbury

Michael Lee Amesbury was born on 7 May 1969 and is a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Runcorn and Helsby from 2017 until 2025.

Mike Amesbury has been a political adviser to Greater Manchester politicians including Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham.

Mike Amesbury served as a Member of Manchester City Council from 2006 to 2017 and an Executive Member from 2008 to 2012.

Mike Amesbury held several shadow ministerial portfolios in Parliament between 2018 and 2024, including Employment, Housing, and Local Government.

In January 2025, Mike Amesbury pleaded guilty to common assault and was sentenced to ten weeks in prison.

Michael Lee Mike Amesbury was born on 7 May 1969 in Wythenshawe, Manchester.

Mike Amesbury moved to Castleford in West Yorkshire at a young age, where he was educated at Castleford High School.

Mike Amesbury joined the Labour Party in 1987, having been politicised by the miners' strike.

Mike Amesbury studied at Ilkley College, where he was awarded Bachelor of Arts degree in Community Studies from Bradford University in 1993.

Mike Amesbury was president of the Ilkley College students' union from 1993 to 1994, and founded its Labour Party society.

Mike Amesbury worked as a careers advisor in Birmingham after receiving his postgraduate degree.

Mike Amesbury became an officer for the North West Labour Party from 1999 until 2003, when returned to careers advice as a manager at Connexions.

Mike Amesbury returned to North West Labour as an events and fundraising manager in 2013, having previously worked as a project manager at The Manchester College.

Mike Amesbury was a policy adviser at Tameside Council from 2014 until 2015, when he became an adviser to Tameside Member of Parliament Angela Rayner.

Mike Amesbury worked for Andy Burnham from 2016 to 2017, supporting his work as an MP and later his Greater Manchester mayoral campaign.

Mike Amesbury was first elected to Manchester City Council in 2006, defeating the incumbent Liberal Democrat councillor in Fallowfield.

Mike Amesbury served as the Council's Executive Member for Culture and Leisure from 2008 to 2012.

Mike Amesbury was a member of Labour's National Policy Forum from 2010 to 2015.

Mike Amesbury resigned as a councillor following his election to Parliament in 2017.

Mike Amesbury was elected as Member of Parliament for Weaver Vale at the 2017 general election.

Mike Amesbury has described his politics as "left of centre" and "pragmatic Labour".

From 2017 to 2018, Mike Amesbury was a member of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.

Mike Amesbury was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Debbie Abrahams, in January 2018.

Mike Amesbury was promoted to become Shadow Employment Minister in July 2018.

In 2019, Mike Amesbury apologised "unreservedly" for having shared an antisemitic caricature on Facebook in 2013.

Mike Amesbury said that he did not recall sharing the post, but was "mortified" and would not have done so intentionally.

In February 2020, Mike Amesbury introduced a private member's bill to reduce the cost of school uniforms; the bill was passed as the Education Act 2021.

Mike Amesbury was appointed Shadow Housing and Planning Minister in April 2020, which was reduced to Housing in May 2021.

Mike Amesbury became Shadow Local Government Minister in November 2021, but resigned in June 2022 to focus on his constituency work.

Mike Amesbury served on the Transport Committee from 2022 until 2023, when he rejoined the front bench as Shadow Building Safety and Homelessness Minister in September.

Mike Amesbury was elected to represent Runcorn and Helsby at the 2024 general election with a majority of almost 15,000.

In March 2025, following an assault conviction and imprisonment, Mike Amesbury announced that he would resign as an MP at the earliest opportunity.

At about 2:15 am on 26 October 2024, Mike Amesbury was recorded by CCTV, in Frodsham, appearing to punch a man to the ground.

The CCTV footage, subsequently released to the public, showed Mike Amesbury directing more punches as the man lay prone on the ground.

On 7 November 2024, Mike Amesbury was charged with common assault and summoned to appear in court.

Mike Amesbury was due to serve 40 per cent of his sentence in prison, with the rest spent on licence.

Public discussion arose regarding the fact that Mike Amesbury would continue to be paid his MP's salary while in custody.

Mike Amesbury was ordered to attend 20 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days, principally surrounding anger management, with the judge noting that "[Mike Amesbury] is not somebody who has complete control of [his] anger management issues".

Mike Amesbury was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, and submit to an Alcohol Monitoring Requirement for a period of 12 months.

Mike Amesbury suffered from depression in the late 2000s, which resulted in behaviour of "self-destruction" and almost ended his marriage.