Joseph William Ashton (born 9 October 1933), usually known as Joe Ashton, is a British Labour Party politician who was known for his defence of the rights of Labour Members of Parliament (MPs) against the demands of the left-wing of the party to subject them to mandatory reselection.
He took his seat in a by-election, winning a 1.72% majority and — in his last election four years before retiring — won it by 36.4% majority, in 1997.