In Parliament (1997–2005) At the age of 25, Leslie gained the seat of
Shipley as a
Labour Co-operative candidate in the
1997 general election defeating
Marcus Fox, the chairman of the Conservative
1922 Committee and Shipley's
Conservative MP since 1970. In the process, Leslie overturned a 12,382 majority, to return a 2,966 majority of his own. It was the neighbouring seat to his hometown of
Keighley, another seat taken by Labour from the Conservatives in 1997. Leslie was the
Baby of the House when he first entered the Commons, remaining so until June 2000 when
David Lammy, three weeks Leslie's junior, was elected. including voting in favour of the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. In the
2005 general election, Leslie lost his seat to Conservative candidate
Philip Davies, by fewer than 500 votes. Having lost his seat in Shipley, in 2005, he became the director of the
New Local Government Network, which was described in the
Local Government Chronicle in 2001 as a "Blairite think-tank". On 14 April 2010, he was selected as the Labour parliamentary candidate for
Nottingham East in the general election campaign, after the
National Executive Committee imposed a shortlist and selection panel, following the late resignation of the MP
John Heppell.
Return to Parliament (2010–2019) Leslie returned to Parliament at the
2010 general election, representing
Nottingham East. Leslie supported
Ed Balls for the leadership of the Labour Party during the
2010 leadership election following the resignation of Gordon Brown, voting for
David Miliband as his second preference. In September 2011, he stood in the shadow cabinet elections but missed out on becoming a shadow cabinet minister, however he was promoted to Her Majesty's Opposition becoming
Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury. On 7 October 2013, he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet, becoming
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In May 2015, he was promoted to
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, replacing
Ed Balls, who had lost his parliamentary seat in the
2015 general election. In this role he opposed Labour's proposals for rent controls, while receiving income as a residential landlord himself. Leslie supported
Yvette Cooper in the
2015 Labour leadership election, and was critical of the economic policies of
Jeremy Corbyn, calling them "starry-eyed, hard left". On 12 September 2015, Leslie resigned from the Labour front bench following the election of Corbyn as party leader. Leslie is a supporter of
Labour Friends of Israel and
Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East. In June 2018 Leslie published a pamphlet through the
Social Market Foundation, where he is a member of the Policy Advisory Board, entitled
Centre Ground: Six Values of Mainstream Britain. In August the same year
The Guardian reported that "many saw the document as laying the intellectual groundwork for a future new [political] party," however Leslie denied this.
Vote of No confidence In September 2018, Leslie lost a vote of no confidence brought by his
Constituency Labour Party and became the fourth Labour MP to have such a motion passed against him. The motion, brought by members of the
Mapperley branch of Nottingham East, criticised Leslie for his "disloyalty and deceit", which it dubbed "a severe impediment to Labour Party electability", and as "incompatible" with Leslie continuing as the Labour candidate. Leslie did not attend the vote and had earlier remarked that the party had been infiltrated by the "intolerant hard left". Centrist Labour MPs rallied around Leslie online.
The Independent Group On 18 February 2019, Leslie and six other MPs (
Chuka Umunna,
Luciana Berger,
Angela Smith,
Mike Gapes,
Gavin Shuker and
Ann Coffey) quit Labour in protest at Jeremy Corbyn's leadership to form The Independent Group, later
Change UK. He continued to serve as a Change UK MP after six of its 11 MPs left the party in June 2019. He lost the
Nottingham East constituency to the Labour candidate
Nadia Whittome in the
2019 general election, losing his deposit with 3.6% of the vote. ==Life after parliament==