Dan Tomlinson is the Labour MP for Chipping Barnet, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Tomlinson won 21,585 votes, representing 42.4% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Theresa Villiers, received 18,671 votes (36.7%), while the Reform UK candidate, Hamish Haddow, secured 3,986 votes (7.8%). Tomlinson was duly elected with a majority of 2,914.

The Chipping Barnet constituency is located in North London. It was held by the Conservative Party from its creation in 1974 to to 2024. Tomlinson’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Chipping Barnet was Theresa Villiers of the Conservative Party, who held the seat from 2005 to 2024.

Political Career

Tomlinson currently serves as parliamentary secretary jointly in the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury (exchequer secretary to the Treasury). He was appointed to the former role in July 2026, following the Labour leadership contest and Andy Burnham’s elevation as prime minister.

Tomlinson was appointed as exchequer secretary to the Treasury in September 2025. He succeeded James Murray, who was appointed as chief secretary to the Treasury, replacing Darren Jones.

Tomlinson is also a member of the House of Commons public accounts committee (since October 2025). The PAC is the oldest and arguably one of the most powerful select committees in the House of Commons. Its primary function is to scrutinise the value for money of public spending, ensuring taxpayers’ money is spent wisely. First established in 1857, the committee does not examine the merits of government policy, only the cost and effectiveness of its implementation.

In the wake of the 2024 general election, which saw Labour returned to power after 14 years in opposition, Tomlinson was appointed by 10 Downing Street as a “national mission champion” for economic growth – a role intended to cut across departmental boundaries and support Labour’s programme for “national renewal”. These “missions”, first set out in 2023 and subsequently given less prominence, included boosting economic growth, reducing NHS waiting times, tackling crime, establishing a publicly owned clean energy company and expanding educational opportunity. Tomlinson was one of five national mission champions alongside Linsey Farnsworth (crime), Tom Hayes (energy), Sarah Smith (opportunity) and Laura Kyrke-Smith (health).

As Downing Street’s growth “champion”, Tomlinson reportedly had oversight of the “business champion” scheme, 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 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.

In November 2024, Tomlinson posted a well-received thread to X (formerly Twitter) concerning the £100m HS2 “bat tunnel”. He said the project helped explain why Britain can’t “build anything anymore”.

Tomlinson stated: “But it’s not just the bat tunnel, or just HS2, but a broader problem with our planning system which is blocking the infrastructure and energy we need… This must change.”

In February 2025,Tomlinsonhe told Sky News: “We need to find a way to reduce the cost of infrastructure in this country. Yes, protecting our wildlife too. But if we don’t do that, we won’t be able to build and we won’t be able to make this country grow again, which is something that’s been lacking for so long.”

Tomlinson has been described as among the “most vociferous housing campaigners from the new intake”.

Tomlinson has sat as a member of the joint ecclesiastical committee (2024-2025). The committee. The committee examines draft measures presented to it by the Legislative Committee of the General Synod of the Church of England.

Tomlinson delivered his maiden speech on 28 October 2024 during a debate on remembrance and veterans.

In it, he said: “It is my contention that when a political party understands the suburbs, it is able then, and only then, to speak on behalf of, and govern for, the country as a whole.”

He added: People’s aspiration for a better life for their families and communities is still there, but it is not being met. I am talking about the deal of suburban life: people who put in so much – spending their time stuck in traffic or on the Northern line, raising their kids to know right from wrong, and serving in their communities and working hard – expect in return that the government will just get some things right by providing public services that are there when needed and ensuring that the economy is strong and growing.

“I saw that deal fall apart somewhat during my time as an economist before entering this House.”

Before entering parliament, Tomlinson served as a Labour councillor on Tower Hamlets Council from 2018 to 2022.

Political Views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Tomlinson 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

Labour Growth Group: Tomlinson has been listed as a member of the Labour Growth Group (LGG) – a vocal faction of backbenchers committed to ensuring economic growth remains the central mission of the government. The group, largely composed of MPs from the 2024 intake, positions itself as the voice of “the builders, not the blockers” and provides organised support for ministers taking on politically difficult decisions in the name of economic expansion.

In an open letter addressed to Keir Starmer, issued upon the group’s founding in July 2024, LGG MPs said it was imperative that “the government grasps the nettle and goes for growth”.

They added: “This absolutely has to start with the sweeping planning reforms to get Britain building again. Under the Tories, planning permissions for new homes hit record lows and housebuilding cratered. Indeed, not once in their 14 years in power did the Conservatives meet their housing targets.”

Get Britain Working Group: Tomlinson 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.”

Living Standards Coalition: Tomlinson 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): Tomlinson 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

Tomlinson voted against 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).

Palestine

LFPME: Tomlinson has been listed as a member of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East (LFPME). The organisation’s stated aim is to promote peace and justice in the region through the application of international law and respect for human rights.

Before Politics

Tomlinson was born in July 1992. He attended Wood Green School in Witney, Oxfordshire.

Tomlinson studied philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at the University of Oxford, graduating in 2013.

Tomlinson’s career before entering frontline politics centred on economics and policy roles. He worked as an economist at HM Treasury (2015-2016) and at the Resolution Foundation think tank (2016-2022).

Personal Life

Tomlinson is married.

Trivia

Tomlinson is the first Labour MP to represent the Chipping Barnet constituency since its creation in 1974.