Luke Charters: meet the fraud expert who is York Outer's new Labour MP
Luke Charters is one of the youngest new MPs in the House of Commons.
He’s only 29, but has already worked for the Bank of England, Financial Conduct Authority and has a toddler to look after. All that as well as representing York Outer for Labour.
He tells me that one of his main focuses is bringing more good quality housing to the constituency, and he’s got personal experience of how important that is.
During the election campaign, Luke and his young family were served with a Section 21 notice - a no-fault eviction.
“It shows how precarious renting is,” he tells me.
“Luckily we were able to stay with my in-laws, who live just up the road, but not everyone is in that position.”
Luke, who grew up in the city and went to Huntington School, managed to shrug off that setback and win York Outer for Labour for the first time in the seat’s short history.
This was not the first time Luke had stood as a Parliamentary candidate, coming second to the previous MP, Julian Sturdy, in 2017 as a 21-year-old.
“That election for the Labour Party in 2017 was a scramble, I just got a call up to say can you put your name on the ballot,” he tells me.
“However, in the intervening years York Outer became one of our top targets.”
In those seven years, Luke has managed to pack a lot into a relatively short career.
After studying at Oxford University and in Chicago, he worked for the UK’s central bank and the FCA, with a particular focus on fraud.
“How do you compensate victims of fraud has been a theme throughout my career,” he says.
Luke explains that when the UK went into lockdown he was pulled into meetings with chief executives of banks on how to keep access to cash available.
“There were two or three really tumultuous months at the start where people were asking can we actually keep the banking system open,” he says.
Now, as an MP, he has been made Labour’s mission champion for Yorkshire and the Humber. Luke appears to be one to watch.