Matthew Robert Turmaine (born 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Watford since the 2024 general election.[1] He was previously the Watford Borough Councillor for Holywell ward from 2012 until his election to Parliament.[2]
Matt Turmaine | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2024 | |
Member of Parliament for Watford | |
Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
Preceded by | Dean Russell |
Majority | 4,723 (10.62%) |
Watford Borough Councillor for Holywell | |
In office 7 May 2012 – 4 July 2024 | |
Preceded by | Emma Hines-Randall |
Personal details | |
Born | Matthew Robert Turmaine 1969 (age 55–56) Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England |
Political party | Labour |
Other political affiliations | Labour and Co-operative (2022–2024) |
Spouse | Jeanette |
Children | 2 |
Education | St Clement Danes School |
Alma mater | University of Birmingham (BSc) |
Website | mattturmaine |
Early life and education
editTurmaine was born in 1969 at Amersham Hospital in Amersham, Buckinghamshire.[1][3][4] His father was a compositor and his mother was a dressmaker. Turmaine attended St Clement Danes School in Chorleywood and spent much of his childhood in Watford, before moving there permanently in 2011. In his 20s, he travelled around the United States, where he visited almost every state and slept rough in Los Angeles.[5] He graduated with a degree in economics and modern history from the University of Birmingham.[6]
Political career
editTurmaine joined the Labour Party in 2004, whilst living in London.[7] He ran as a Labour candidate for the three Fulham Reach seats on the Hammersmith and Fulham Council in the 2006 election, where he received 1,207 votes and finished sixth out of eight candidates. In the 2010 Hammersmith and Fulham Council election, Turmaine stood as a Labour candidate for the three North End seats, receiving 1,679 votes and finishing sixth out of nine candidates.[8] After moving to Watford in 2011, he stood as the Labour Party candidate for Holywell ward in the 2012 Watford Borough Council election, where he gained the seat from the Liberal Democrats with a majority of 710 votes.[9] In the 2015 general election, Turmaine was selected as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Watford, a historical Bellwether seat, where he finished in second place below the incumbent Richard Harrington of the Conservative Party.[10] In both the 2016 and 2018 council elections, he retained his Holywell seat with an increased majority.[11][12]
In the 2019 general election, Turmaine was selected as the Labour parliamentary candidate for his home seat of Chesham and Amersham, where he finished third below the Liberal Democrat candidate and the Conservative incumbent Cheryl Gillan.[13] He then held his Holywell seat in the 2022 council election with a reduced majority.[14] In July 2022, Turmaine was again selected as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Watford.[7] Throughout the 2024 election campaign, Turmaine pledged to reduce the tax burden on Watford families and waiting times at Watford General Hospital as well as recruiting more teachers to Watford schools, in line with the Labour Party manifesto.[15] He was elected as the MP for Watford in the 2024 general election, defeating the Conservative incumbent Dean Russell with a majority of 4,723 votes.[1] In his victory speech, Turmaine thanked the people of Watford for putting their trust in him.[16]
Personal life
editTurmaine and his wife Jeanette have two children.[5][8] He is a member of the Unison trade union.[17] Turmaine is a member of the LGBT+ community.[18] Before his election to Parliament, he worked in health and social care at Hertfordshire County Council.[6][7] He had also previously worked in public relations for the BBC from November 1998 to January 2002.[19][20] Turmaine supports Watford FC.[5]
Electoral performance
editHouse of Commons
editParty | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Matt Turmaine | 15,708 | 35.3 | –4.0 | |
Conservative | Dean Russell | 10,985 | 24.7 | –17.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Ian Stotesbury | 7,577 | 17.0 | –0.7 | |
Reform UK | Gary Ling | 4,930 | 11.1 | New | |
Workers Party | Khalid Mahmood Chohan | 2,659 | 6.0 | New | |
Green | Arran Bowen-la Grange | 2,428 | 5.5 | +5.2 | |
Heritage | Sarah Knott | 168 | 0.4 | New | |
Majority | 4,723 | 10.62 | +3.02 | ||
Turnout | 44,455 | 61.0% | –7.50 | ||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Cheryl Gillan | 30,850 | 55.4 | –5.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Dan Gallagher | 14,627 | 26.3 | +13.3 | |
Labour | Matt Turmaine | 7,166 | 12.9 | –7.7 | |
Green | Alan Booth | 3,042 | 5.5 | +2.5 | |
Majority | 16,223 | 29.1 | –11.0 | ||
Turnout | 55,685 | 76.8 | –0.3 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Richard Harrington | 24,400 | 43.5 | +8.6 | |
Labour | Matthew Turmaine | 14,606 | 26.0 | –0.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Dorothy Thornhill | 10,152 | 18.1 | –14.3 | |
UKIP | Nick Lincoln | 5,481 | 9.8 | +7.6 | |
Green | Aidan Cottrell-Boyce | 1,332 | 2.4 | +0.8 | |
TUSC | Mark O'Connor | 178 | 0.3 | New | |
Majority | 9,794 | 17.5 | +15.0 | ||
Turnout | 56,149 | 66.6 | –1.7 | ||
Conservative hold | Swing | +4.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Matt Turmaine | 949 | 53.2 | –12.4 | |
Conservative | Sanjaya Pant | 426 | 23.9 | +9.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Penelope Hill | 360 | 20.2 | –0.2 | |
TUSC | Mark O'Conner | 49 | 2.7 | New | |
Majority | 523 | 29.3 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 1,784 | 27.4 | |||
Labour Co-op hold | Swing | –11.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Matt Turmaine | 1,402 | 65.61 | ||
Liberal Democrats | Syed Kazmi | 436 | 20.40 | ||
Conservative | Yasmin Goldsmith | 299 | 13.99 | ||
Majority | 966 | 45.21 | |||
Turnout | 2137 | 33.38 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Nigel Bell | 1,200 | |||
Labour | Jackie Connal | 924 | |||
Labour | Matt Turmaine | 917 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Simonie Rose Jeffree | 210 | |||
Conservative | Penelope Anne Mortimer | 208 | |||
UKIP | Gavin Stephen Smith | 199 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Frances Kershaw | 184 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Qaiser Mahmood | 172 | |||
Conservative | Prasi Bhatt | 144 | |||
Conservative | Camilla Zaman Khawaja | 134 | |||
Green | Rhiannon Emma Louise Grant | 133 | |||
Green | Jim Grant | 108 | |||
Green | Anne Simpson | 72 | |||
TUSC | Clive Jones | 39 | |||
Turnout | 26.15 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Labour hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Matt Turmaine | 1,016 | 62.9 | –5.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mohammed Umar | 306 | 19.0 | +3.1 | |
Conservative | Neil John Punter | 165 | 10.2 | –1.5 | |
Green | Nigel Anthony Filer | 127 | 7.9 | +3.9 | |
Majority | 710 | 42.9 | |||
Turnout | 1614 | 26.15 | |||
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Georgie Cooney | 2,125 | |||
Labour | Daryl Brown | 1,987 | |||
Conservative | Tom Crofts | 1,979 | |||
Conservative | Caroline R. Ffiske | 1,842 | |||
Labour | Max Schmid | 1,697 | |||
Labour | Matt Turmaine | 1,679 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Robert Falkner | 998 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Patrick C. Mcveigh | 810 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Meher Oliaji | 774 | |||
Turnout | |||||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Labour gain from Conservative | Swing | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Gavin Donovan | 1,683 | |||
Conservative | Paul Bristow | 1,635 | |||
Conservative | Andrew Johnson | 1,573 | |||
Labour | Stephen B. Burke | 1,284 | |||
Labour | Oliver P. Cardigan | 1,222 | |||
Labour | Matthew R. Turmaine | 1,207 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Elizabeth M. Stephens | 407 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Marytka K. Jablkowska | 341 | |||
Turnout | 44.1 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing |
References
edit- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Declaration of Result of Poll". Watford Borough Council. 5 July 2024. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ "Councillor details - Councillor Matt Turmaine". Watford Borough Council. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ "TURMAINE, Matthew Robert birth registration record". FreeBMD. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
- ^ Joy, Matt (11 November 2019). "'The current system is failing nearly everyone' - Chesham and Amersham Labour candidate unveiled". Bucks Free Press. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Matthews, Anthony (26 December 2024). "Matt Turmaine reflects on first months as MP for Watford". Watford Observer. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Matt Turmaine MP". Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Matt Turmaine has been selected as Labour's Parliamentary candidate for Watford". Watford Constituency Labour Party. 16 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Wright, Mike (1 March 2013). "Ed Balls shows support for Watford Labour candidate Matt Turmaine". Watford Observer. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "2012 Watford Borough Ward election". Watford Borough Council. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Election for the constituency of Watford on 7 May 2015". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "2016 Watford Borough Ward election". Watford Borough Council. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "2018 Watford Borough Ward election". Watford Borough Council. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Election for the constituency of Chesham and Amersham on 12 December 2019". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "2022 Watford Borough Ward election". Watford Borough Council. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ Turmaine, Matt (26 May 2024). "'Watford wants change' claims Labour general election candidate". Watford Observer. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ McGuinness, Fintan (5 July 2024). "Labour candidate Matt Turmaine voted in as Watford MP". Watford Observer. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ Issimdar, Mariam (7 July 2024). "Who are the MPs representing Hertfordshire?". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- ^ Soaper, Lily (17 October 2022). "Campaign Session in Watford". LGBT+ Labour. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ Garside, Juliette (12 March 1999). "STOP PRESS: Turmaine to head BBC new media PR". PRWeek. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
- ^ "BBC dissolves top PR job in internet division reshuffle". PRWeek. 11 January 2002. Retrieved 9 November 2024.