Andy Slaughter
Andrew Francis Slaughter (born 29 September 1960, London) is a United Kingdom politician. He is Member of Parliament for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush in London and was Leader of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council.
Andrew Slaughter is a barrister specialising in criminal and housing law and a former Labour Party researcher for Michael Meacher. He became a Hammersmith and Fulham councillor for Gibbs Green ward in 1986, then from 2002 North End ward and council leader in 1996. When the government moved towards executive mayors, Hammersmith and Fulham was one of the first councils to style their leader 'mayor'. However, the measure initially failed to become law and Slaughter eventually reverted his title to leader.
He stood as the Labour candidate in the Uxbridge parliamentary by-election on 31 July 1997. The Labour Party put a huge amount of effort into winning the seat, which had been held by a Conservative. The by-election came less than three month's after Labour's landslide victory in May 1997. Tony Blair even visited the constituency, becoming the first Prime Minister for over thirty years to campaign in a by-election.
However Labour's campaign was overshadowed by a row over the decision to select Andrew Slaughter instead of the party's general election candidate, David Williams. Some local party workers were angry that Williams was not even shortlisted as a possible candidate. Nearly a third of the members attending the selection meeting spoiled their voting papers in protest against his exclusion. In the by-election, Labour won 39% of the vote, down on Labour's performance in May. The Conservatives held the seat with a local candidate, John Randall.
At the 2005 election, Andrew Slaughter was elected as MP for Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush in London, replacing Clive Soley who retired.