Gregor Poynton is the Labour MP for Livingston, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Poynton won 18,324 votes, representing 40.9% of the vote. The Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate, Hannah Bardell, received 14,796 votes (33.0%), while the Reform UK candidate, David McLennan, secured 3,977 votes (8.9%). Poynton was duly elected with a majority of 3,528.

The Livingston constituency is located in West Lothian, Scotland. The seat was held by Hannah Bardell of the SNP from 2015 to 2024, and before that by Labour from 1983 to 2015.

Political Career

Poynton currently serves as junior lord of the Treasury (government whip). He was appointed to this role in July 2026, following the Labour leadership contest and Andy Burnham’s elevation as prime minister. This role means Poynton is partly responsible for enforcing party discipline and managing the government’s legislative agenda in the House of Commons. As a whip, Poynton’s primary duty is to ensure that the party’s MPs attend parliamentary votes and support the government’s position.

Poynton served as an assistant government whip from September 2025 to July 2026.

In June 2025, Poynton was one of 22 newly elected Labour MPs who co-signed a letter to the leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) calling for improved paternity leave for parliamentary staff. The letter, organised in collaboration with the campaign group The Dad Shift, argued that the current provision of two weeks’ paid leave was “unfair” and left parliament trailing behind leading private and public sector employers.

The letter said current rules meant MPs were “unable to support our staff appropriately at some of the most important times of their lives”.

They added: “Dads in our offices get just two weeks off, a situation that is unfair and puts parliament many steps behind top employers across the country.”

In response, a government spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “We are committed to making sure parents receive the best possible support to balance their work and home lives as part of our Plan to Make Work Pay.”

Poynton was appointed as a government “business champion” in Scotland – a role established in February 2025 to facilitate engagement between the Labour administration and the private sector. The position was part of a network of approximately 40 MPs appointed by the Department for Business and Trade to act as conduits for industry views on government policy. The grouping operated under the oversight of Dan Tomlinson, the national “mission champion” for growth.

The selection of champions was designed to leverage the professional expertise of the 2024 intake of MPs, and the role was seen as an early step on the Westminster ladder. However, the scheme was reportedly scrapped in July 2025 following a meeting at 10 Downing Street. According to a Guido Fawkes report, the business champions were told that their services were no longer required.

At the beginning of the parliament elected in 2024, Poynton stood unsuccessfully for election as chair of the Scottish affairs committee. In the contest, the results of which were announced in September 2024, Poynton secured 235 votes, placing second. He was ultimately defeated by Patricia Ferguson, who won the support of 237 colleagues. Ferguson’s slight margin of victory required a recount to confirm.

In their official campaign statement, Poynton said: “I bring over 20 years of experience in Scottish and UK politics. This balance of fresh energy and expertise will ensure the committee operates effectively, removing the barriers holding Scotland back and will be outward facing by engaging across the whole of the UK…

“My experience, commitment, and collaborative approach make me the right candidate to chair the Scottish affairs select committee to focus on Scotland’s future.”

Poynton has sat as a member of the House of Commons business and trade committee (2024-2025).

Poynton delivered his maiden speech on 31 October 2024 during a debate on Income Tax (charge).

In it, he said: “There is a Scottish Labour thread of history in this place, from Hardie, Maxton, Lee and Dewar to Cook, Brown and Darling.

“Living up to that is an impossible task, but try we must, because in that trying and effort is the opportunity to make a change. The idea of being a Scottish MP in the Parliament of the United Kingdom is important to me.

“I am Scottish, and I am British. I do not see these identities as contradictory, but they are different.”

He added: “I wanted to come to this place to make sure that everyone, no matter their background, can thrive. That is what drives me and my politics…

“We have a government who are on the side of working people, and we should not rest until everyone in this country has the opportunities that they need to build a more secure life for themselves and their families.

“That is what I resolve to spend my time in this place doing, on behalf of people in the Livingston constituency.”

Political Views

Factional identity and party tradition

Get Britain Working Group: Poynton has been listed as a member of the Get Britain Working Group of Labour MPs – a caucus supportive of the Starmer leadership’s position on welfare. The group argues for a “new social contract built on employment and opportunity”, focusing on the rising number of people out of the workforce due to long-term sickness.

In an open letter, issued upon the group’s founding in March 2025, the group expressed its support for the government’s welfare measures set out in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. The bill was subject to a significant revolt of over 120 Labour MPs – which forced ministers into a series of concessions shortly before its first vote in the House of Commons.

Ahead of the bill’s fraught second reading debate, the MPs wrote: “Our Labour values are built on a simple but powerful idea: that every individual, regardless of background or circumstance, should have the support they need to make the most of their lives.

“Everyone who is capable of working deserves the security, dignity and agency that employment offers. Of course, there are some people who are not able to work and they must be treated with compassion and respect. But for those that can, we must restore the pathways to opportunity which are currently so sparse for millions of people.

“It is exactly what a Labour government exists to do.”

Living Standards Coalition: Poynton is a member of the Living Standards Coalition. Established in July 2025, the group’s stated aim was to develop and promote policy ideas that directly reduce everyday costs for households, particularly in areas such as food, energy, housing and childcare. In an open letter published upon its founding, addressed to Keir Starmer, the MPs wrote: “Our constituents will ask one question at the next election: did this Labour government make me better off?”

They added: “To raise living standards, we support government interventions that will help to increase incomes and lower costs.”

SERA: Poynton has been listed as a member of the Socialist Environment and Resources Association (SERA) – a socialist society affiliated with the Labour Party. Founded in 1973, SERA is the party’s official environmental campaign group. The organisation campaigns on a wide range of issues, including renewable energy, biodiversity, air quality and the transition to a green economy. SERA describes its member MPs as “champions for the environment”.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Poynton voted in favour of the government’s flagship welfare bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Assisted dying

Poynton voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Poynton voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Before Politics

Gregor Arthur Poynton was raised in Falkirk in the 1980s. His father worked in a plastics plant in Grangemouth for over 35 years.

Poynton studied politics at the University of Strathclyde.

He went on to work as a Scottish organiser for the Labour Party, including on the 2005 general election and 2007 Scottish Parliament election.

Poynton was involved in the digital campaign for former US president Barack Obama during the 2008 election. From 2009 to 2014, Poynton worked for Blue State Digital. He has held a series of advisory and consultancy roles, including at Portland Communications.

Poynton worked under Jim Murphy during his tenure as leader of Scottish Labour.

Personal Life

Poynton was married to former Labour MP Gemma Doyle.

He later remarried Amy Richards, who has served as an adviser to senior Labour politicians. Amy Richards is the sister of Jake Richards, who was elected as the MP for Rother Valley in 2024.

Trivia

Poynton’s brother-in-law is fellow Labour MP Jake Richards.