Amanda Martin is the Labour MP for Portsmouth North, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Martin won 14,495 votes, representing 34.8% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Penny Mordaunt, received 13,715 votes (33.0%), while the Reform UK candidate, Melvyn Todd, secured 8,501 votes (20.4%). Martin was duly elected with a majority of 780 votes.

The Portsmouth North constituency is located in Hampshire, in the South East of England. The seat was held by the Conservative Party from 2010 to 2024, and prior to that by Labour from 1997 to 2010.

Martin’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Portsmouth North was Penny Mordaunt of the Conservative Party. Mordaunt, who represented the seat from 2010 to 2024, was the serving leader of the House of Commons at the time of their defeat.

Political Career

Martin currently serves as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Department for Transport. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs. The role is widely regarded as the first step on the ministerial ladder. Although they cannot speak for the government in debates, a PPS is bound by collective responsibility and becomes part of the so-called “payroll vote”, expected to support the official line in all divisions. Martin was appointed to this role in July 2026, following the Labour leadership contest and Andy Burnham’s elevation as prime minister.

Martin served as a parliamentary private secretary in the Department for Education from September 2025 to July 2026.

In December 2024, Martin introduced a private member’s bill (PMB) under the 10-minute rule procedure to reform sentencing guidelines for crimes involving the theft of workplace equipment. The Theft of Tools of Trade (Sentencing) Bill called for tougher penalties and changes to how courts assess the seriousness of tool theft.

Speaking in the commons, Martin stated: “Over recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the theft of tradespeople’s tools, usually from vehicles. One in 10 tradespeople can expect to have their tools stolen this year, and the same proportion have already experienced three or more such thefts in their career.

“The impact on an individual or small business from the theft of critical tools goes well beyond the value of the tools themselves.”

She added: “If the courts had a better understanding of the impact of tool theft on individuals and small businesses, the system would deal with the crime in a much more just way…

“Increasing the penalties for tool theft would send a clear message that these crimes will no longer be tolerated.”

Martin has sat as a member of the House of Commons education committee (2024-2025).

Martin is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for the Armed Forces, Gibraltar (chair) and male suicide.

Martin delivered her maiden speech on 4 September 2024 during a debate on the Budget Responsibility Bill.

In it, she said: “I am deeply humbled to make my maiden speech in this debate highlighting the importance of fiscal standards, because during the election campaign so many people told me that their mortgage had gone through the roof, or that they had lost the ability to buy or rent their first home, or indeed any home, because of the actions of the last government.

“I understand personally what it is like when a full-time job does not even cover the bills. My gramps was a train driver.

“He taught me the importance of hard work and public service. He introduced me to the trade union movement and to the Labour party, which I am proud to say have been at the centre of my adult life.”

She added: “My working-class background means that I sometimes seem a bit impatient. This is because I know that people from my background must fight harder, and do not often get a second chance, so they have to seize every opportunity as it arises.”

Martin previously contested the Portsmouth North constituency at the 2019 general election.

Political Views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Martin 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.

Factional identity and party tradition

Living Standards Coalition: Martin 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.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Martin 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

Martin 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): Martin 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

Martin worked as a teacher in the city for 24 years.

During her career in education, she became a prominent trade unionist, serving as national president of the National Education Union (NEU).

In her 2024 maiden speech, Martin told the House: “Like so many of my colleagues on the government benches, I was the first in my family to go to university and the first to become a teacher.”

Personal Life

Martin lives in Portsmouth and has three sons.

Trivia

Martin is a lifelong supporter of Portsmouth Football Club and sits on the Portsmouth Supporters Trust Board.