Beth Winter is the Labour MP for Cynon Valley in Wales, having first been elected to Parliament in 2019 with a majority of 8,822.
The Cynon Valley constituency is found within the county of Glamorgan and covers the towns of Aberdare and Mountain Ash. A former coal mining and ironworking area, the Cynon Valley has always been a Labour stronghold.
Born in 1974, and brought up in the Cynon Valley, Beth Winter was educated at the University of Bristol, before completing a PhD at Swansea University.
Prior to being elected to Parliament, Winter worked as a policy officer for the University and College Union of Wales, as a case worker for the charity Shelter, and as a research associate in housing policy at Swansea University.
In her maiden speech, Winter talked about marching as a child in support of the 1984 miners strike. She is opposed to the casualisation of the workforce.
Winter has three children, and is a fluent Welsh speaker. She is co Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ageing and Older People. She previously worked as a food bank volunteer.
Firmly on the left of the Labour Party, Winter is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs, and supported Rebecca Long Bailey in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Winter was one of 11 Labour MPs who backed a statement from the Stop the War coaltion which appeared to take issue with the claim that NATO was a defensive alliance, and which appeared to criticise the block’s move eastwards. Alongside the other MPs, she later withdrew her name from the statement.
Email – beth.winter.mp@parliament.uk
Website – www.bethwinter.wales
Twitter – @bethpenderyn
