Liam Conlon
Liam Conlon | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament for Beckenham and Penge | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Majority | 12,905 (24.7%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Liam Joseph Conlon March 1988 (age 37–38) |
| Party | Labour |
| Parents |
|
Liam Joseph Conlon[1] (born March 1988)[2] is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beckenham and Penge since July 2024.[3] A member of the Labour Party, he is the chairperson of the Labour Party Irish Society.[4]
Career
In the 2006 Epping Forest District Council election, Conlon was the Labour candidate in Waltham Abbey Paternoster ward.[5]
In 2023, Conlon was selected by Labour party members in the newly created constituency of Beckenham and Penge to be the Labour candidate in the 2024 General Election.
In 2024, Conlon was elected MP for Beckenham and Penge with a majority of 12,905 making him the first Labour MP in a constituency entirely in Bromley.
Conlon was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department for Transport following his election.
In 2024, Conlon voted against the assisted dying bill.
In 2025, Conlon proposed Philomena's law in Parliament, which would create an indefinite capital disregard for payments made to survivors from Ireland's Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme who live in Britain.[6][7]
Following Conlon's campaign, the British Government agreed to disregard payments under Ireland’s Mother and Baby Redress Scheme at the 2026 UK-Ireland Summit.[8]
Personal life
Conlon is the son of Bill Conlon, a former Country music singer, and his wife, former senior civil servant Sue Gray (now Baroness Gray of Tottenham), who served as Downing Street Chief of Staff under Sir Keir Starmer from July to October 2024.[9] He had a hip replacement at the age of 17 due to an accident at the age of 13 where he fractured his hip; for years following the accident he was unable to walk. As a result of this, he is one of a handful of current disabled MPs, and drives an adapted car.[10]
References
- ^ "Members Sworn". Hansard. 752. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
- ^ "Liam Joseph CONLON".
- ^ Bertrand, Ezekiel (5 July 2024). "General Election 2024: Labour wins Beckenham and Penge". News Shopper. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ Ryan, Órla (3 July 2024). "Labour's Irish chair on running for parliament, the Troubles and... Saturdays with Philomena Begley". TheJournal. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ "Election results for Waltham Abbey Paternoster, 4 May 2006". www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk. 4 May 2006. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
- ^ "'Philomena's Law' tabled to help survivors of mother-and-baby homes". The Independent. 12 March 2025. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
- ^ "The campaign for Philomena's Law". Irish in Britain. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ^ "Statement between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Taoiseach Micheál Martin". gov.ie. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
- ^ "Sue Gray quits as Starmer resets top team". The Independent. 7 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ Ryan, Órla (3 July 2024). "Labour's Irish chair on running for parliament, the Troubles and... Saturdays with Philomena Begley". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 17 July 2024.