Gareth Craig Snell (born 1 January 1986) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-on-Trent Central from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, he was Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council from 2012 to 2014. In July 2022, Snell was reselected as the Labour Parliamentary Prospective Candidate for Stoke-on-Trent Central.^[1]

Snell was educated at Stowmarket High School in Suffolk, East Anglia,^[2] and graduated from Keele University in 2008 after studying History and Politics.^[3] While studying at Keele in 2004, Snell founded Keele Labour Students.

Snell unsuccessfully stood for election to Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council in 2007 and 2008, but was finally elected to represent Knutton and Silverdale ward in May 2010.^[4] He was elected as the Leader of the Council after Labour won a majority at the 2012 local elections.^[5] During his tenure, the council became a living wage employer, joined the Co-operative Council network and implemented a 'no redundancies' policy. Seeking re-election in Chesterton ward, Snell's leadership came to an end upon narrowly losing to the UKIP candidate in May 2014.^[6][7] However, he returned as a councillor in a by-election for Silverdale and Parksite ward in August 2016, and served until his term expired in May 2018.^[8]

In January 2017, Snell was selected as the Labour Party candidate in the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election, triggered following the resignation of Tristram Hunt.^[9] Held on 23 February, he won the seat with a reduced vote share but saw off a challenge from UKIP leader Paul Nuttall.^[10]

He was re-elected with a majority of nearly 4,000 on 8 June 2017. This was an increase of the figure of 2,600 at the by-election, but compares to 20,000 from 1997.^[11] Snell lost his seat in the 2019 general election to Conservative Jo Gideon, predicting his defeat even before his result was announced on BBC television.^[12]