Your MP, Julia Buckley, was born into a working-class family in Selby in North Yorkshire. She was a miner’s daughter and saw first-hand the impact of economic hardship when her father lost his job in the 1980s. She worked tirelessy and pursued higher education, earning an MA from the University of Edinburgh and then a PhD from the University of Wolverhampton. She worked as a policy adviser in the European Parliament for five years, gaining experience in EU-level policy and funding. She then spent 17 years working as an external/EU-funding officer at the Wolverhampton City Council.

Her first foray into politics came when she was elected to local government in 2017 on Bridgnorth Town Council, and then to Shropshire Council in 2021. She was known as an ever-present councillor in Bridgnorth. When county-wide funding cuts threatened to close the town’s youth provision, she helped launch a community crowdfunding appeal to raise the extra funds. The campaign met and surpassed its goal of £12,000, keeping the Innage Lane Youth Club in Bridgnorth open.

After years of local service she was elected on July 4th 2024 as Shrewsbury’s MP with a commanding majority of 11,355 votes. Her win was historic: she became the first woman to represent Shrewsbury in Parliament.

Since entering Parliament, Julia has served on the influential Environmental Audit Select Committee, and was a key driver in securing an inquiry into Flood Resilience in England with Shrewsbury as a case study. She also chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Local Markets, advocating for small businesses which is a cornerstone of Shrewsbury’s burgeoning economy.

She also works hard on rural issues. She formed the Labour Rural Research Group, a group aiming to ensure the government listens to the issues of rural constituencies, including better public transport, fair funding for rural councils, more robust flood protection, and tackling sewage in our river.