At the most recent general election, in 2019, Sheerman's majority fell to 4,937 with a swing of 7.8% to the Conservatives, in line with many other seats in Yorkshire.

Following John Smith's election as Labour leader, Sheerman served as the shadow Disabled People's Rights minister from 1992 to 1994.

Sheerman warned the government not to "lose their nerve" over reforming secondary education exam system back in 2005,[3] and in 2006 said it was "naive" to allocate local school places through parental choice, with lottery selection being the best way to avoid "bloody awful" schools existing as a side effect of parents pushing for their children to study elsewhere.

He is Chair of the Labour Forum for Criminal Justice and of the Cross-Party Advisory Group on Preparation for European Monetary Union.

In June 2009, Sheerman called for a secret ballot of the Parliamentary Labour Party on whether Gordon Brown should continue in office as prime minister.

[7] He is founder and chairman of Policy Connect, a cross-party, not-for-profit based in London, where he regularly chairs seminar events and research inquiries.

[8] In June 2015, Sheerman caused controversy when he argued that lowering the voting age to 16, by reducing childhood, might raise the risk of sexual abuse.