About Sandy

Sandy Martin is an active member of the Labour Party. He was elected to Parliament as MP for Ipswich on June 8th 2017 and served until 5th November 2019.  He moved to Ipswich in 1993 and worked for Ipswich Borough Council as an advice worker at their Community Resource Centre until 2002.  He was also Coordinator of Ipswich & District Friends of the Earth from 1995 to 1996.   

He was elected to Suffolk County Council in 1997, and chaired the Suffolk Joint Municipal Waste Management group which introduced the 3-bin collection system in 2001, raising the County’s recycling rate from about 14% to over 40%.  He became Leader of the Labour Group in 2009, and drove the 2013 election campaign raising the number of Labour Councillors on the County Council from 4 to 15.   

He also served as a Borough Councillor from 2002 to 2014, and championed the introduction of cycle lanes in Ipswich town centre. As Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, he helped win acceptance for a new work rota which enabled the Borough Council to keep waste collection in-house.   

During his time as a Councillor, Sandy has also served as a school governor at his local Primary and Secondary schools, as Chair of the Management Committee of his local Pupil Referral Unit, as a Trustee of the local Pre-school, and on the Boards of the Ipswich & Suffolk Council for Racial Equality, the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Ipswich Disabled Advice Bureau

He stood for election to the European Parliament in 2014 as the 3rd Candidate on the Labour East of England platform.  Sandy lives in Ipswich with his Civil Partner.  

From October 2018 to November 2019 Sandy served as Shadow Minister for Waste and Recycling. Sandy  was also a member of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, and the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. 

Sandy is currently working to promote a better approach to Democracy in the Labour Party, especially for a Proportional system for elections to Parliament, and is a member of the Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform (LCER).

He also intends to continue and strengthen Labour’s commitment to the protection of our Environment, through his membership of the Socialist Environment Resources Association (SERA).