Christopher John Bryant (born 11 January 1962) is a Welsh Labour Party politician and former priest who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rhondda since the 2001 general election. Before entering politics, Bryant worked as a Church of England vicar, as well as having roles at the BBC and Common Purpose. He became the MP for Rhondda in 2001 with one of the largest majorities in the country. As an MP he served as Shadow Minister for the Arts, Minister of State for Europe, Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. He was the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons before resigning on 26 June 2016. He was re-elected in June 2017.