Charalambos "Bambos" Charalambous (born 1967) is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Southgate and Wood Green, previously Enfield Southgate, since 2017. While in opposition he held a series of shadow ministry posts. He was suspended from the Labour Party during an investigation into a complaint against him between June 2023 and April 2024, but the complaint was not upheld.[1]
Charalambous grew up in North London and trained and worked as a solicitor. Before entering national politics, he served as a member of Enfield Council for 24 years.
Charalambous is a solicitor. Before and until his election as MP, he worked for Hackney Council in their housing litigation team.[7]
He served as a member of Enfield Council for the Palmers Green ward for 24 years. Whilst a councillor, he also served as an Associate Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture, Localism and Young People.[8]
At the snap 2017 general election, Charalambous was elected to Parliament as MP for Enfield Southgate with 51.7% of the vote and a majority of 4,355.[14][15][3][16][17]
Charalambous served on the Justice Select Committee. He also served as a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on London, Cyprus, Crossrail Two, Autism, Sex Equality, Music, Global Education For All and London's Planning and Built Environment.[18]
In January 2018, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Rebecca Long-Bailey, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.[19] In December 2018, he was appointed as an Opposition (Labour) Whip.[20]
At the 2019 general election, Charalambous was re-elected as MP for Enfield Southgate with a decreased vote share of 48.5% and an increased majority of 4,450.[21]
Following Keir Starmer's election as Labour leader in April 2020, he joined the shadow Home Office team as the Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction and Courts.[23] Charalambous swapped roles with Holly Lynch in a minor reshuffle in May 2021, becoming the Shadow Minister for Immigration.[24] He served as Shadow Minister for the Middle East and North Africa from 2021 to June 2023, when he was suspended as a Labour MP following an allegation "that requires investigation by the Labour Party".[25][26]
After a thorough investigation involving scrutiny by a board chaired by an independent lawyer, the complaint was not upheld and he had the whip restored in April 2024.[27]