Danny Beales
Honorific suffixMP
Office 1Member of Parliament
for Uxbridge and South Ruislip
Term start 14 July 2024
Predecessor 1Steve Tuckwell
Majority 1587 (1.3%)
Office 2Member of Camden Borough Council
for Camden Square
Cantelowes (2014–2022)
Term start 222 May 2014
Term end 212 July 2024
Predecessor 2Paul Braithwaite
Successor 2Patricia Leman
Birth nameDanny Boy Beales
Birth date1988 (age 38–39)
Birth placeHillingdon, London, England
PartyLabour
EducationLondon School of Economics (BSc, MSc)

Danny Boy Beales (born 1988) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Uxbridge and South Ruislip since 2024.[1] A member of the Labour Party, he was previously a member of Camden London Borough Council from 2014 until his election to Parliament.[2][3]

Early life

Danny Boy Beales[4] was born in 1988[5][6] at Hillingdon Hospital.[7] He was raised in South Ruislip by his mother, a single parent.[7] He was made homeless twice while a teenager, both times after his mother was made redundant from work, living for a while with his grandparents in Northampton, and then in a council house in the area. He benefitted from an Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), allowing him to complete his A-Levels. He joined the Labour Party around this time, frustrated by the financial difficulties his family faced.[8][9] Beales studied politics and social policy at the London School of Economics.[9]

Political career

Camden Council

Following his studies, Beales went on to work in campaigning and communications with the Labour Party.[9]

He was first elected at the 2014 Camden London Borough Council election, and was re-elected at the next two subsequent council elections. Beales was initially elected to represent Cantelowes, unseating the ward's sole Liberal Democrat councillor. Cantelowes was abolished for the 2022 elections,[10] and Beales was subsequently elected for the Camden Square ward.[11] He was a governor at Torriano Primary School, on his local street.[12][13]

Since his election, Beales has been one of the most high-profile councillors, with the local paper writing of him, "With an ever-expanding brief, Cllr Beales has been there for every Camden policy, every flashpoint."[3] He is quoted nearly every week in the local press.[2]

Beales served as Camden Council's Cabinet Member for New Homes, Jobs and Community Investment. In this role he was responsible for the Community Investment Programmes which is Camden's estate regeneration and property development programme.[14] CIP - and Beales personally - has been criticised on a cross-party basis for failing to meet its own target for building council homes and for allowing private developers to 'seize' part of sites for their own use.[15]

He supported adding a pedestrian crossing in Camden with the transgender flag, the first of its kind in London.[16]

Beales resigned from being a Camden councillor on 12 July 2024, a week after being elected as an MP.[17]

Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election

In December 2022, Beales was selected as the Labour candidate for Uxbridge and South Ruislip to become the candidate at the by-election, which was announced less than a day after the constituency's MP, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had resigned. This was just prior to the publication of the Commons Privileges Committee investigation into Johnson's involvement in Partygate.[18][5] Beales then began campaigning with the party's national campaign co-ordinator, Shabana Mahmood.[19] He remained a Camden Council Cabinet Member throughout the by-election.

During campaigning, Beales challenged the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's policy to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone into outer London, including Uxbridge and South Ruislip. Beales suggested the scheme should be delayed, while the successful Conservative candidate, Steve Tuckwell, wanted to scrap the scheme completely.[20][21]

2024 general election

Beales was reselected as the Labour candidate for the 2024 general election. This time, he won narrowly over Tuckwell, defeating him by 587 votes.[1]

In November 2024, Beales voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.[22]

Personal life

Beales is a gay man.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ "Uxbridge and South Ruislip - 2024 Election". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  2. ^ Osley, Richard (4 August 2022). "Danny Beales: 'I've been homeless… I know what it's like – that's what drives me'". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  3. ^ "... ULEZ if you want to". Camden New Journal. 13 July 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  4. ^ "New MPs elected at July by-elections". UK Parliament. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  5. ^ Topping, Alexandra (12 June 2023). "Labour's candidate in Uxbridge 'not taking anything for granted'". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  6. ^ Rafray, Nathalie (28 December 2022). "Camden councillor Danny Beales on facing Boris Johnson". Ham & High.
  7. ^ "About Danny". Danny Beales MP. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  8. ^ "Danny Beales: I'm fighting for Boris's seat in Uxbridge". The Times. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  9. ^ From homelessness to the House of Commons? Meet Danny Beales, the man looking to unseat Boris Johnson. Big Issue. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
  10. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Cantelowes Ward". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
  11. ^ "Local election results 5th May 2022". Camden Council. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
  12. ^ "Danny Beales". Camden Labour. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  13. ^ Rowlands, Jenny (5 April 2022). "Statement of Persons Nominated – Camden Square". Camden London Borough Council. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  14. ^ Osley, Richard (28 October 2022). "Cabinet councillor in bid to take over Boris Johnson's seat". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  15. ^ Osley, Richard (21 March 2022). "Left and right – and the rest – join in a rare alliance to hammer Camden's estates strategy". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Trans crossing unveiled in Camden to 'show everyone is welcome'". LBC. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  17. ^ https://twitter.com/DannyBeales/status/1811742919839150409
  18. ^ "Camden's regeneration chief Danny Beales selected to take on Boris Johnson at general election". Camden New Journal. 17 December 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Uxbridge by-election date set as Tories announce candidate for Boris Johnson's former seat". ITV News. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  20. ^ "Uxbridge by-election: Issues explored ahead of vote". BBC News. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  21. ^ Quinn, Ben (12 July 2023). "'Going to be close': nerves fray before byelection in Boris Johnson's old seat". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading". Votes in Parliament. 29 November 2024.
  23. ^ Thomson, Alice (2023-07-20). "Danny Beales: I'm fighting for Boris's seat in Uxbridge". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  24. ^ Strudwick, Patrick (2023-01-25). "Meet the man who beat homelessness to become Labour's pick to unseat Boris Johnson". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-20.