Tracy Gilbert is a

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is repres ...

politician who has been Member of Parliament for Edinburgh North & Leith since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. She currently resides in

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

Early life and career

Gilbert grew up in a mining town in

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

during the 1980s, and has spoken about how this has shaped her politics. Before entering Parliament, Gilbert was a Housing Officer and the Scottish General Secretary of the USDAW trade union.

Parliamentary career

At the 2024 general election, Gilbert was elected for the Edinburgh North & Leith constituency, becoming the first Labour MP to win the seat since 2010. Her result was part of a 'red wave' in Scotland, as the

won 37 seats, up from one seat in 2019. Following a ballot on the 5th of September 2024, Gilbert introduced a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in wh ...

in the 2024/25 parliament. The Private Members Bill put forward was Absent Voting (Scotland and Wales). Currently, in Scotland and Wales, you cannot apply for a postal ballot online; however, for reserved elections, you can. This bill would allow those voting in Scottish and Welsh elections to apply online for their postal votes. On 17th January this bill was passed and it is now in the committee stages. At Labour's 2024 Autumn conference, Gilbert called for party members to lobby MPs against her party's plans to criminalise

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have ...

, which will ban practices aimed at changing or suppressing someone's gender identity or sexual orientation. Speaking at a fringe event organised by the gender critical Labour Women's Declaration group, she said her party's proposals were flawed, that many parliamentarians would be unaware of the pitfalls of the proposals and they would need educated through persuasive conversations. In 2024, Gilbert voted in favour of an assisted dying bill at second reading.

Personal life

Gilbert is openly LGBT+.https://x.com/JamesAsser/status/1859719790413349332

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Tracy Living people People from Midlothian Scottish Labour MPs Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 2024–present Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies Scottish trade unionists Year of birth missing (living people) LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Scottish LGBTQ politicians