Alistair (Al) Carns is the Labour Party MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Carns won 17,371 votes, representing 45.2% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Simon Phipps, received 5,834 votes (15.2%). The Reform UK candidate, Erin Crawford, secured 5,732 votes (14.9%). Carns was duly elected with a majority of 11,537.

The Birmingham Selly Oak constituency has been held by the Labour Party since 1992.

Carns’ immediate predecessor as the MP for Birmingham Selly Oak was Steve McCabe of the Labour Party. McCabe stood down from parliament at the 2024 general election.

Political Career

Carns served as parliamentary under-secretary of state for the armed forces from September 2025 to June 2026.

Carns resigned in June 2026 over a dispute regarding military spending and the defence investment plan (DIP) specifically. He joined John Healey, the defence secretary, in stepping down.

In his resignation letter, Carns contended that the government was “asking our Armed Forces to operate in a more dangerous world on a budget written for a calmer one.”

He added: “We ask soldiers to fight for this country. In return, we owe them the kit to do the job and the loyalty to stand by them when it’s done. We are failing on both.

“The same failure of seriousness runs through how this country treats the people it asks the most of, in uniform and out of it.

“Too many working people in this country feel insecure even when they are doing everything right. They work hard, contribute, pay their taxes, and still feel one setback away from trouble. Public confidence in our institutions is weakening, and politics increasingly looks performative while everyday life gets harder.

“The machinery of government itself has been left to decay. Decisions that should take days, take months.”

Carns subsequently suggested that he could join a leadership contest to succeed Starmer as prime minister. In an interview with LBC Radio, he was asked about how he would respond if there was a leadership election and “the ball comes out from the back of the scrum.”

Carns responded: “I’m good at rugby and football, but we’ll see what happens… I’m always up for playing.”

In December 2025, Carns was first touted as a possible outsider contender to replace Starmer as prime minister in a PoliticsHome report. Labour MPs told the website that Carns had been “sounding out support” with the parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). One Labour MP described Carns as “the most extraordinary man and would be the most impressive leader this country has ever had.”

Carns was initially appointed parliamentary under-secretary of state for veterans and people at the Ministry of Defence immediately following his election to parliament in July 2024.

Upon his appointment, Carns posted to social media: “I am deeply honoured to accept prime minister Keir Starmer’s offer to serve as the new minister for veterans affairs in this new Labour government under the ministerial leadership of our secretary of state for defence John Healey.”

He added: “To our veterans, you have sacrificed so much for our nation, and stood and fought with courage, often in the face of the unimaginable, it is my privilege to now… stand for you.”

Carns delivered his maiden speech on 24 July 2024 in a debate on education and opportunity.

In it, he said: “I often described Selly Oak as a United Kingdom squeezed into a constituency. We have different cultures, different characters and hundreds of small businesses.

“We had the Cadbury factory, and we have the Cadbury attraction, which has over 500,000 visitors every year. We have the great Birmingham University, which is so fantastic. We have many NHS workers and teachers, and an abundance of entrepreneurs, micro-breweries and charities.”

He added: “After spending the past 24 years in the far corners of this world, fighting to uphold and protect our democratic values, members cannot imagine – I genuinely mean this – how humbling it is to participate in this democracy, to go out on the campaign trail, to knock on doors, to vote, and to see the democratic process at work, and now to stand here among this fantastic cohort.

“I see this election victory not only as a moment for me, or from the perspective of Selly Oak or of all of us; I think it is a moment for all democracies. Our deeds must be as strong as our words. The world has become tougher and far more unstable, with insecurity surrounding us.”

Before entering parliament, Carns served a full career in the Royal Marines, joining in 1999 and resigning his commission in May 2024 to stand for election. Carns held the rank of colonel upon deciding to run for election. He was due to become a one-star brigadier general on 10 June 2024.

During his military career, he served five tours in Afghanistan and was awarded the Military Cross (MC) in 2011 for gallant and distinguished services.

Carns served as a military adviser to three Conservative secretaries of state for defence, namely Michael Fallon, Gavin Williamson and Penny Mordaunt. His final role before retiring was chief of staff to the commander UK Strike Force, where he was responsible for coordinating aircraft carriers and commando forces.

Carns told the Independent in 2024: “I have worked for three defence secretaries in the national security structure, and I feel this gives me the ability to put plans into practice.”

Carbs was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours. He was appointed as Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in the 2025 New Year Honours.

Carns re-enlisted as a Royal Marines reservist in November 2024, telling the Times: “If anything happens, I want to go back to the military”.

Political views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Carns was one of 175 Labour MPs who nominated Bridget Phillipson for the party’s deputy leadership in September 2025. The election followed the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader after an investigation into her tax affairs. It marked the first time since 2007 that Labour had held a deputy leadership contest while in government.

Phillipson, the serving education secretary, was widely viewed as the candidate favoured by Downing Street and the party leadership. She secured 175 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), comfortably exceeding the 80 required to reach the final ballot. She was ultimately defeated by Lucy Powell.

Assisted dying

Carns voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at the third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Carns 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

Born Alistair Scott Carns on 27 March 1980 in Aberdeen, Scotland.

He joined the Royal Marines in 1999 at the age of 19.

Carns was one of 14 former services personnel to stand as prospective Labour candidates.

Personal Life

Carns has two sons and a daughter.

Trivia

Carns summited Mount Everest in May 2025, as part of a team of former special force members who were trialing xenon gas to speed up altitude acclimatisation.

Carns reportedly goes by the nickname of “Action Man”.