Oliver Ryan (politician)

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Wikipedia

Oliver Ryan
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Burnley
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byAntony Higginbotham
Majority3,420 (8.6%)
Personal details
BornOliver David Ryan
(1995-04-22) 22 April 1995 (age 30)
Manchester, England
Political partyLabour Co-op
Alma materUniversity of Manchester (BA)
University of Law (GDL)

Oliver David Ryan (born 22 April 1995) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Burnley since 2024.[1] Previously, from 2014 to 2023, he was a councillor on Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, where he was Executive Member for Finance and Economic Growth and earlier Executive Member for Children's Social Care.[2] He served as a Labour and Co-operative MP from the 2024 election until February 2025, when he was administratively suspended from the party.[3] He was subsequently reinstated to the party 6 months later.[4]

Early life

Oliver David Ryan[5][6] was born on 22 April 1995[7] in Manchester[citation needed] to a single mother. He is the oldest of four children, and grew up near Oldham and Ashton-Under-Lyne.[8] Ryan graduated from the University of Manchester with a BA (Hons) in Modern History with Politics in 2016 before obtaining a postgraduate Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) in Law from the University of Law.[9][8] He has spoken of the influence his grandparents had on his upbringing; his grandfather David Boyle was a GMB Union official and his grandmother was an NHS nurse.[citation needed]

Political career

Ryan joined the Labour Party in 2010, aged 15.[2] He was elected as the Labour Party councillor for Audenshaw ward in the 2014 Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council election at the age of 19.[10] He retained his seat in the 2018 and 2022 elections. Ryan stood down ahead of the 2023 election.[11][12] Ryan was then elected as the Labour and Co-operative MP for Burnley in the 2024 election with a majority of 3,420 votes, defeating the incumbent Antony Higginbotham of the Conservative Party.[6]

Ryan has said that his main priority in politics is to break the "generational cycle of worklessness" among some Burnley families.[13] In February 2025, Ryan apologised for comments made in a WhatsApp chat group, after Andrew Gwynne was sacked as a minister and was suspended from the Labour Party, over messages he sent to the same group.[14] Ryan was subsequently also suspended from the Labour parliamentary party.[15] In September 2025, Ryan's membership of the parliamentary Labour Party was reinstated.[4]

Electoral performance

House of Commons

General election 2024: Burnley[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Oliver Ryan 12,598 31.7 –8.5
Liberal Democrats Gordon Birtwistle 9,178 23.1 +15.4
Conservative Antony Higginbotham 8,058 20.3 –20.2
Reform Nathan McCollum 7,755 19.5 +12.4
Green Jack Launer 1,518 3.8 +2.0
Independent Rayyan Fiass 292 0.7 +0.7
Independent Mitchell Cryer 169 0.4 +0.4
Independent David Roper 151 0.4 +0.4
Majority 3,420 8.6 N/A
Turnout 39,719 53 –9.4
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +5.8

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

2022 Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council election: Audenshaw[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Oliver Ryan 1,520 52.1 +5.2
Conservative Danny Mather 1,178 40.4 –4.0
Green Luke Robinson 221 7.6 –1.1
Majority 342 11.7
Turnout 2,930 31.1
Labour hold Swing +4.6
2018 Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council election: Audenshaw[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Oliver Ryan 1,581 55.3 +10.0
Conservative Danny Mather 922 32.2 +5.7
UKIP Peter Harris 195 6.8 –15.6
Green Georgia Blakeney 161 5.6 +0.4
Turnout 2,865 30
Labour hold Swing
2014 Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council election: Audenshaw[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Oliver Ryan 1,284 42.32 −9.36
UKIP David Turner 1,162 38.30 N/A
Conservative Colin White 429 14.14 −18.42
Green Nancy Jaegar 159 5.24 N/A
Majority 122 4.02 −15.1
Turnout 3,034 33 −29
Labour hold Swing

Personal life

Ryan is openly gay.[16][15]

References

  1. ↑ "Burnley - General election results 2024". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 Higgins, Adam (5 July 2024). "Former Tameside councillor becomes MP for first time". Tameside Correspondent. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  3. ↑ "Burnley MP Oliver Ryan suspended by Labour over messages on WhatsApp group". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  4. 1 2 Schofield, Kevin (14 August 2025). "Exclusive: Labour Reinstates MP Suspended Over 'Offensive' WhatsApp Messages". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 15 August 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  5. ↑ "Votes and Proceedings". Parliament.uk. 9 July 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 "UK Parliamentary Election – Thursday 4th July". Burnley Borough Council. 5 July 2024. Archived from the original on 10 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  7. ↑ Ryan, Oliver David [@OliverRyanUK] (23 April 2023). "Well, I'm 28! Thanks for all your kind messages. Had a day of campaigning, cake, friends celebrating Eid, visited a youth project & had a lovely family meal. Special thanks to @LordWajidKhan & the Khans for celebrating with me & to @GemmaHaigh_ for my canvassing Birthday badge!" (Tweet). Retrieved 7 September 2025 – via Twitter.
  8. 1 2 Ryan, Oliver David. "About Oliver Ryan". Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  9. ↑ "Graduation programme July 2016" (PDF). University of Manchester. July 2016. p. 57. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Local Election - Thursday, 22nd May, 2014". Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  11. 1 2 "Local Election - Thursday, 3rd May, 2018". Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  12. 1 2 "Local Election - Thursday, 5th May, 2022". Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  13. ↑ Collis, Dominic (3 September 2024). "Burnley's new Labour MP Oliver Ryan talks about his first 50 days in parliament". Burnley Express.
  14. ↑ "Second Labour MP apologises over WhatsApp comments". BBC News. 9 February 2025. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  15. 1 2 Whannel, Kate (10 February 2025). "Oliver Ryan suspended as Labour MP over WhatsApp messages". BBC News. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  16. ↑ Reynolds, Andrew (5 July 2024). "Number of out LGBTQ+ MPs falls following election – but Labour has a reason to be proud". PinkNews. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Burnley
2024–present		 Incumbent