Labour’s newest and youngest MP Kier Mather is set to become the ‘baby’ of the House of Commons but at just three year his senior, the Conservative party‘s Sara Britcliffe is set to give him a run for his money.
Previously the ‘baby’ of the House, Ms Britcliffe was elected to serve Hyndburn in Lancashire aged just 24 in 2019.
Who is Sara Britcliffe?
Conservative candidate Sara Britcliffe gained the constituency of Hyndburn from from Labour’s Graham Jones with a majority of almost 3,000 at the age of 24 in 2019.
Conservative activists sang ‘I’m dreaming of blue Christmas’ as they celebrated the result.
Ms Britcliffe’s father, Peter Britcliffe, was a long-serving Tory councillor in Accrington until he stood down in 2018.
Mr Jones had held the seat since 2010, and the seat was last won by a Tory in 1987.
After reading Modern Languages at Manchester University, she began her political career as Mayoress of Accrington and was later elected as a councillor for the ward of St. Andrews in the Hyndburn Council election.
Speaking before the result was announced, Ms Britcliffe said: ‘What I found on the doorstep are people are fed up with the situation we have been in for three years, which you can completely understand.
‘People want to get Brexit done and it has shown in the polls that it wasn’t just the Conservative Party saying that, it’s what everybody was feeling.
‘I think we have worked very hard on the campaign and I think the message has got across that Hyndburn is ready for something different and someone who listens to the constituents.
‘Not matter how people voted at this election, I will work for everybody.’
In January 2020 Ms Britcliffe was branded ‘childish’ for wearing a t-shirt with her Labour predecessor’s face on it because she lost a bet.
Mr Jones said her behaviour was ‘disgraceful and childish’, ‘unbefitting of an MP’ and at the time claimed she had not apologised.
In response Ms Britcliffe, whose victory helped to break Labour’s Red Wall in the north, claimed she has apologised and ‘there was no mocking’, The Sun reported.
She said: ‘There was no mocking of him, it was a Secret Santa present and in fact mocked me.’
Conservative MP for Hyndburn Sara Britcliffe, then-24, said she wore the t-shirt with her Labour predecessor’s face on it because she lost a bet to her labour-supporting friends
After reading Modern Languages at Manchester University, Ms Britcliffe began her political career as Mayoress of Accrington
Ms Britcliffe is currently the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Before her full-time political career, Ms Britcliffe made sandwiches at a cafe in Oswaldtwistle, Hyndburn.
Who is Kier Mather?
The 25-year-old won a majority in the Selby and Ainsty by-election last night.
He graduated from Oxford University only four years ago before landing his first job as a party researcher for Wes Streeting, who is now shadow health secretary.
But the 25-year-old, the first MP to have been born after Tony Blair became Prime Minister, was mocked by Tory minister Johnny Mercer last night as ‘a repeat of The Inbetweeners’.
Mr Mather, who shares the same name as current Labour leader Keir Starmer – named after the first Labour Party leader Keir Hardie – studied at Oxford between 2016 and 2019 before spending a year as a researcher for Mr Streeting.
While studying Mr Mather juggled part-time jobs in a café, a butcher’s van and selling street food as well as living off a student loan.
Asked on Sky News whether he was looking forward to a fresh injection of youth into the Commons, Mr Mercer said: ‘It’s always good to get new people in politics.’
25-year-old Kier Mather won a majority in the Selby and Ainsty by-election last night
Mr Mather is set to become the ‘baby’ of the House of Commons at such a young age
But, as he made reference to the cult TV series, he added: ‘We mustn’t become a repeat of The Inbetweeners. You’ve got to have people who have actually done stuff.
‘This guy has been at Oxford University more than he’s been in a job. You put a chip in him and he just relays Labour lines. The problem is people have had enough of that.
‘They want people who are authentic, people who have worked in that constituency, who know what life is like, who understand what life is like to live, work and raise a family in communities like theirs.’
The young MP joked he had ‘heard far worse’ when asked how he felt about becoming ‘the Baby of the House’.
He will become the youngest MP in the Commons after overturning the Tories’ 20,137 majority in the Yorkshire seat.
In a speech after he was declared by-election winner, Mr Mather said he ‘understood the enormity of what has just happened’.
‘We have rewritten the rules on where Labour can win. People have opened their doors to us and embraced our positive vision for the future,’ he said.
‘The people of Selby & Ainsty have sent a clear message. For too long, Conservatives up here and in Westminster have failed us, and today that changes.
‘Over the past few months, speaking to hundreds of people on the doorstep, I’ve encountered so much hardship. Hardship made worse by 13 years of negligence and complacency from the Conservatives.’
At the count at Selby Leisure Centre, Mr Mather told reporters: ‘As a young person in politics, I really hope to be a representative for the power that young people have to make a difference.’
Mr Mather said his first priority would be setting up financial support centres in the constituency, for people to get expert help with issues including mortgage payments and energy bills.
He told journalists he supported Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s policy of keeping the two-child benefit cap, saying: ‘I think we’re going to inherit an absolute economic mess from the Conservatives when we take power and we’re going to have to make extremely difficult decisions once we do, and I support the Labour government in doing so.’
Mr Mather said the cost-of-living crisis was the number one issue on the doorstep throughout the campaign.
Newly elected Labour MP Keir Mather (centre), with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and deputy Labour Party leader Angela Rayner at Selby football club today
Keir Mather is hugged by Angela Rayner after she arrived with Sir Keir Starmer
Asked if people were voting for Labour or against the Tories, he said: ‘Well, I make no bones about it, I think local residents were extremely frustrated at the way the Conservative MP (Nigel Adams) stepped down, but they only voted Labour to the extent that they did because they knew we had a plan that would actually deliver on their concerns.’
After Mr Mather’s speech, defeated Conservative candidate Claire Holmes left the venue without talking to reporters.
Labour have said Mr Mather was born in Hull and grew up near Selby, before going to Oxford.
The party said he has most recently worked as a senior public affairs adviser for the CBI and was formerly a parliamentary researcher for Wes Streeting from 2019 to 2020. His candidacy was supported by the GMB and Unison unions.
