James Stewart Murray (born 13 July 1983) is a British

Labour and Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated to Labour Co-op; ) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidates contest elections under an e ...

politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Ealing North Ealing North is a constituency, created in 1950. Since the 2019 general election, it has been represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by James Murray of Labour Co-op. Constituency profile Straddling the Western Avenue and dir ...

since

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. He has served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury since 9 July 2024. He was

Deputy Mayor of London A Deputy Mayor is a member of the London Mayoral cabinet, in the executive arm of the Greater London Authority. They serve as political advisors with responsibilities and powers corresponding to portfolios delegated by the Mayor. One of them mu ...

for Housing from 2016 to 2019.

Early life and education

James Murray was born on 13 July 1983 in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. His mother Lynne was a Labour councillor for Cleveland ward in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

from 2014 to 2018. He grew up in West Ealing, attending a

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

, before studying PPE at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

. Murray graduated with a BA First Class degree in 2004.

Political career

Murray served as a councillor in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

from 2006 to 2016, representing

Barnsbury Barnsbury is an area of north London in the London Borough of Islington, within the N1 and N7 postal districts. History The name is a syncopated form of ''Bernersbury'' (1274), being so called after the Berners family: powerful medieval ...

ward. He was the borough's Executive Member for Housing and Development from 2010 to 2016. In this role, ''

Inside Housing ''Inside Housing'' is a monthly trade publication that covers the United Kingdom's social housing sector. The magazine was first published on 30 March 1984, and is part of Ocean Media Group. The headquarters is in London. In 2007, the majority st ...

'' reported that he "proved himself to be a tough negotiator who knows what he wants". He advised

Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...

during his successful selection and election campaigns to become

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

, and was appointed by Khan as London's Deputy Mayor for Housing in 2016. As Deputy Mayor, Murray championed a new 'fast track' approach to affordable housing requirements for development in London. The new approach encouraged developers to offer more affordable homes upfront in exchange for dropping complex viability negotiations. It boosted affordable housing provision and won backing from many in the property industry for speeding up the process. Murray also oversaw the Mayor's £4.8bn affordable homes investment programme. He developed the first-ever

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

initiative dedicated to building council homes, Building Council Homes for Londoners, which raised council homebuilding to its highest level in 34 years.

Parliamentary career

At the 2019 general election, Murray was elected to Parliament as MP for

with 56.5% of the vote and a majority of 12,269. He gave his maiden speech in January 2020. He became a member of the Health and Social Care Committee in March 2020 and was appointed to the Opposition Whips' Office in April 2020. On 16 October 2020, he was appointed

Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury In British politics, the Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury (or colloquially Shadow Financial Secretary) is a Shadow Minister, shadow ministerial position of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Official Opposition tha ...

, following the resignation of

Dan Carden Daniel Joseph Carden (born 28 October 1986) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Walton since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, Carden identifies as a socialist and as belonging to the party's ...

the previous day relating the

Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act 2021 (c. 4) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act makes provision for the use of undercover law enforcement agents and covert sources and the committing of crime ...

. As

, he has led for the Opposition on legislation including several finance bills, and bills affecting stamp duty and National Insurance Contributions. Murray was re-elected as MP for Ealing North at the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

with a decreased vote share of 47.8% and an increased majority of 12,489. Prime Minister

Sir Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

appointed Murray Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in his cabinet in the early days of his premiership.

Personal life

Murray lives in West Ealing with his husband Tom Griffiths. In the late 2000s, Murray was diagnosed with

Myasthenia gravis Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a long-term neuromuscular junction disease that leads to varying degrees of skeletal muscle weakness. The most commonly affected muscles are those of the eyes, face, and swallowing. It can result in double vision, ...

. He received treatment at the

National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (informally the National Hospital or Queen Square) is a neurological hospital in Queen Square, London. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It was the f ...

, Queen Square, and is now symptom-free.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, James Living people 1983 births Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford English gay politicians Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom LGBTQ people from London People from Hammersmith Politicians from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham UK MPs 2019–2024 UK MPs 2024–present Labour Co-operative mayors and deputy mayors of London