Dylan James Tippetts (born 2 December 2000) is a British politician who has served as councillor for Compton in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

since 2022. He is

Plymouth City Council Plymouth City Council is the local authority for the city of Plymouth, in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. Plymouth has had a council since 1439, which has been reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1998 the council has been a unitary aut ...

's first openly transgender councillor and one of the first trans councillors in the UK.

Early life

Dylan Tippetts was born in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

on 2 December 2000, and grew up in

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

. He came out as

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

in 2018, and moved to

shortly after. At time of election, he was a law student at the

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

Political career

Tippetts stood as the Labour Co-operative candidate for Compton ward in the 2022 Plymouth City Council election. He won the seat, becoming the ward's first Labour councillor. His election also saw him become the first trans councillor in the city. Speaking about winning the seat, he said:

“If I can help someone realise that trans people are just normal human beings like everyone else, with the same hopes and dreams, (and) just help dial down some of the real hate and division at the moment, that would be incredible. It would be even more of an honour to show a young person who might be scared of coming out that everything’s going to be OK and everything that they want in life can come true.”

On 9 May 2025 Tippetts resigned as a member of the Labour Party, and announced he would be sitting for his final year on Plymouth City Council as an independent councillor. He cited the Labour Party's lack of support for transgender people. In his resignation statement, he said:

"The Labour Party nationally has thrown transgender people under the bus and has taken us backwards decades. Everyone deserves the right to live peacefully, and the Labour Party continues to deny transgender people that basic right.I cannot continue to represent a party that does not support my fundamental rights. I cannot as a trans person continue to support the Labour Party."

Despite stating that he would serve the rest of his term as an independent, on 15 May 2025 he announced he had joined the Liberal Democrats.

Personal life

Tippetts lives in

Mutley Plain Mutley Plain is a street in Plymouth, Devon, England. Although Mutley Plain is the main street of the dense suburb called Mutley, the term is often applied to the whole area. The road is now a busy dual-carriageway, the B3250, with eight sets o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tippetts, Dylan English transgender politicians English transgender men Transgender male politicians 2000 births Living people Alumni of the University of Plymouth Politicians from Plymouth, Devon People from Bridgwater Independent councillors in the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK) councillors Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Councillors in Devon