Mel Stride.

Mel Stride's most distinctive recent actions cut across party lines on assisted dying — he backed the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at both Second and Third Reading, joining a cross-party majority against the Conservative whip. He also broke ranks to support the Tobacco and Vapes Bill's generational smoking ban. Beyond those rebellions, he has been active in his Shadow Chancellor role, publicly attacking Rachel Reeves's tax record — describing her approach as raising taxes "faster than anywhere in the world" — and opposing Labour's employment tribunal reforms, planning delegation rules, and changes to academy school policy on orthodox Conservative grounds.

A 99.1% party-line voter outside his assisted dying and public health deviations, Stride is consistent rather than rebellious. His participation rate of 56% is below the Commons average, though shadow frontbench duties partly explain that. His 283 contributions across 53 debates skew heavily toward economic territory — economy, fiscal policy, and cost-of-living together account for nearly four in ten of his speeches. He scores 100% against tax increases and 95% pro-business, but 0% on workers' rights and progressive taxation, a profile that matches his Shadow Chancellor brief. His 50% rating on public health measures — 41 points above the Conservative average — reflects his consistent support for tobacco regulation.

Locally, he has pressed Lloyds Bank over a planned branch closure in Okehampton, visited a dementia day care organisation, and committed publicly to lobbying on rural broadband and transport. He sits on no select committees. News sentiment over the past 90 days is mixed: taxation coverage rates positively, but culture-and-community and planning stories score neutrally. His last recorded speech was 23 June 2026.