Alexander Redd

Alexander Redd (born 10 October 1983) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2018 until resigning after the 2022 General Election. Redd has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Poplar & Limehouse since 2015.

Born and raised in Tower Hamlets, Redd joined the Labour Party as a teenager while in college. Redd studied Law in Oxford University and had a short career as a lawyer before he became fully invested in British politics. In 2010, Alexander Redd became the Secretary of the former MP for Poplar & Limehouse, Jim Fitzpatrick. After Fitzpatrick retired before the 2015 General Election, Alexander Redd was chosen to be the next Labour Candidate for the constituency of Poplar & Limehouse. Quickly rising up in popularity and fame within the party, Redd set himself apart in 2016 when he actively campaigned on the side of Leave during the 2016 European Union Referendum and even joining Vote Leave.

Alexander Redd was elected Labour Leader in December 2018 after the shock resignation of Jeremy Corbyn. Despite running uncontested, party membership rose rapidly following his election. Alexander Redd election as Labour Leader marked the first time in British history that a BAME member (not including those of the Jewish community) has become leader of a major political party and Leader of the Opposition.

Broadening the party's ideological span, Alexander Redd has been noted of not fitting perfectly into the typical Labour factions, believing and introducing ideas and policies from across the political spectrum. In a shock move, Redd shifted the party's Brexit stand to a very Eurosceptic position. In the 2019 Snap General Election, Alexander Redd led his party to a result of 251 seats, which, while a decrease, was a relief compared to the 203 seats that was previously predicted before he became Leader. He was successful in keeping the Conservatives from gaining a majority but Labour stayed in Opposition. In the next snap election that was held a few months after, Labour kept a similar amount of seats, which Redd used as an example of how he had stabilised the Party in a year.

In 2020, Alexander Redd endorsed the Divorce Deal put forward by the Government and allowed the Labour Party to vote for it.

Early Life & Education
Alexander Redd was born in Tower Hamlets on the 10th October 1983. Redd was the son of a Bangoli Muslim father and a Spanish Catholic mother. Moving into Poplar, he grew up in a working class household. His family were on the benefit system for a few years in his early childhood.

In Secondary school, Redd excelled in all his subjects but took particular interest in History, Business and Drama. He also joined a debating club, becoming interested in the politics around him. At the age of 16, as a strong Liverpool FC supporter, he started campaigning to boycott the Sun Newspaper for the article they posted on the Hillsborough Disaster which was proven to be pushing fake news. While in Secondary school, Redd met Jane Rose, a girl who had an interest in medicine (along with other hobbies), who he quickly became close with and eventually started dating. Redd excelled his GCSEs and went to college.

At college, Redd studied History, Government & Politics and Economics for A-Levels. Not only did he get A* for all these subjects but he also became the Head Boy of his college. It was at this time that Redd joined the Labour Party and started focusing more on politics.

After college, Alexander Redd was accepted into Oxford University to study Law/Jurisprudence. While in Uni, after hearing that the Sun had endorsed Tony Blair, Redd campaigned for Blair to reject the endorsement. He excelled at Uni and finished his Law Degree by his 4th year, marrying Jane Rose soon after. After Uni, Redd started off a small career as a lawyer before he started to get directly involved in politics.

Parliamentary Backbencher (2015 - 2018)
During the 2015 General Election, Alexander Redd was chosen to be the Labour candidate for Poplar & Limehouse and became the Member of Parliament for Poplar & Limehouse.

During his maiden speech to the House of Commons, Redd gained fame when he claimed that the European Union was holding the United Kingdom back and publicly stated that in a Referendum, he would both campaign and vote to Leave the European Union. This raised up his fame as he became one of very few Labour MPs to publicly state their support for leaving the European Union.

During the 2015 Labour Leadership Elections, Alexander Redd refused to state who he would be voting for, stating that he believed that the party had to unite behind whoever became leader to show unity towards the rest of the country. After Jeremy Corbyn won the Leadership Election, Alexander Redd congratulated him and urged the party to unite as one to defeat the Tory threat.

During the 2016 European Union Referendum, Redd joined Vote Leave and campaigned for the UK to leave the European Union, gaining much popularity in the North of England. When the results came in, Redd made a speech claiming that "Britain can now fly free" and that the "chains of the European Elite" were now off of the UK. He also encouraged other European nations to leave the Union, stating that "Europe should be ruled by European people, not by the beaurocratic bankers of Brussles".

Redd criticised former Prime Minister Theresa May heavily during the 2017 General Election, stating that the Conservatives were "putting an ardent remainer in charge of Brexit", a reference to how Theresa May voted to Remain during the Referendum.

While in Parliament, Redd criticised May's Divorce Deal due to her inclusion of a backstop that would apply to the entire country. Redd stated that May's deal was "not a true Brexit Deal", and stated that May was trying to chain the UK back down to the European Union and that she could not be trusted.

WIP