Andrew joined the Labour Party in 1974. After a brief time during his studies when he worked as an education officer with the
General, Municipal, Boilermakers and Allied Trade Union, he began his professional career as a partner with Robin Thompson and Partners Solicitors in 1978. He became a partner in the firm Russell Jones & Walker Solicitors in 1995.
He was elected as a councillor in the
City of Westminster in 1982, becoming the Labour group leader in 1990. During his time there, he led the criticism of
Shirley Porter and the so-called "homes for votes" scandal.
He was elected to the
British House of Commons at the
1997 General Election for the new seat of Hendon, defeating
John Gorst, the sitting Conservative MP for the former constituency of Hendon North, by 6,155 votes. He made his
maiden speech on
June 6, 1997, in which he criticised the government of
John Major for closing the
Edgware general hospital. He became a member of the
Social Security select committee in 1998, and after the
2001 General Election its replacement, the
Work and Pensions Select Committee, on which he remained until 2005. He has been a member of the Standards and Privileges Select Committee since 2001, and has also been a member of the Human Rights and Liaison committees since 2005.
Andrew asked
Tony Blair a parliamentary question about
Holocaust memorial and education, and received a written answer on
10 June 1999. This led to the establishment of
Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK. He set the 21st century
record for a filibuster in the House of Commons http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm051202/debtext/51202-07.htm#51202-07_spnew11 by talking for 197 minutes during the debate of the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Protection of Property) Bill.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4492688.stm
He was criticised in 2001 for allowing the
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone to campaign for him at the election, even though Livingstone had been expelled from the Labour Party for standing against the Labour mayoral candidate
Frank Dobson.
