Chris Evans has been the Labour MP for Islwyn since 2010, and was reelected in 2019 with a majority of 5,464.
The south Wales constituency of Islwyn is found in Gwent and covers the communities of Newbridge, Pontllanfraith, Risca and Blackwood. A former coal mining area, this has long been one of the safest Labour seats in the UK, and this area has been held by Labour since the First World War. For many years it was represented at Westminster by the former Labour Leader, Neil Kinnock.
Chris Evans currently serves as a Shadow Defence spokesperson.
Born in 1977, Evans was brought up in the Rhondda valleys. He was educated at Porth County Comprehensive, Pontypridd College and Trinity College, Carmarthen. Upon leaving university, he worked in various roles, as a bookmaker for Jack Brown Bookmakers, and then for the Lloyds TSB Bank.
He later moved to become a full-time trade union official with the Union of Finance Staff, and then worked as a Parliamentary researcher to the former MP for Islwyn, Don Touhig.
Evans has been a member of the Labour Party since he was 15. He stood as Labour’s candidate in the 2005 General Election in Cheltenham. He is a member of Unite, the Fabian Society and the Co-operative Party.
Evans was critical of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader, and backed Owen Smith in his challenge to Jeremy Corbyn in 2016,
He backed Sir Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership election, having supported Liz Kendall in the 2015 Labour leadership contest.
In 2012, he sustained scar on his hand from an dog attack, leading him to be a campaigner in Parliament against dangerous dogs.
Evans enjoys running and boxing. He is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Boxing. He sometimes acts as an administrative steward at bouts, and is a Director of the British Boxing Board of Control.
In 2017 he wrote and published a book on boxing entitled, Fearless Freddie: The Life and Times of Freddie Mills. In 2021 he wrote a further biography of the Leeds United and later England football manager, Don Revie.
Chris Evans is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Archives and History; and Customer Service. He is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Heart Valve Disease; International Trade and Investment; Motor Neurone Disease; Spain; Tennis; Alternative Lending; and Pigeon Racing.
Email: chris.evans.mp@parliament.uk
Email: chris.evans.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: www.chrisevansmp.co.uk
Twitter: @ChrisEvansMP
