Gurinder Singh Josan is the Labour Party MP for Smethwick, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Josan won the Smethwick seat with 16,858 votes (48.0%). The Reform UK candidate, Pete Durnell, received 5,670 votes (16.1%), while the Conservative candidate, Kate Fairhurst, secured 4,546 votes (12.9%). Josan was duly elected with a majority of 11,188 votes.

The Smethwick constituency, located in the West Midlands region of England, was re-established for the 2024 general election. It primarily consists of parts of the former Warley constituency, which was represented by Labour’s John Spellar until his retirement in 2024, along with parts of other neighbouring seats.

Political Career

Josan is a member of the House of Commons procedure committee (since November 2024) – the committee responsible for considering the practice and procedure of the House in the conduct of its public business. It can make recommendations to the House about the operation of the House’s Standing Orders for public business.

Josan was appointed as a member of the United Kingdom delegation to the Nato parliamentary assembly (Nato PA) by the prime minister in November 2024. The delegation serves as a consultative link between the UK parliament and Nato. The assembly brings together legislators from all 32 member states to debate and provide oversight on security and defence policy. The party distribution of the delegation is intended to reflect the composition of the House of Commons.

Following the 2024 election, Josan co-founded the Labour First Parliamentary Network. Labour First is a staunch defender of what it terms the party’s mainstream, traditional values. It was a key voice of internal opposition to the leadership during the Corbyn years. The parliamentary network is styled as the Labour right’s “answer to the Labour left’s Socialist Campaign Group”.

In a statement released upon the formation of the group, co-signed by Josan, said it had taken “several years of hard graft to win back the party from those on the hard left who had no interest in winning elections and to bring the party to the point where we could win”.

According to a PoliticsHome report, the statement also warned that “the left are still waiting in the wings to take advantage of any discord within the party”. Josan is reported to be the convenor of the Labour First Parliamentary Network.

Josan was appointed as a government “business champion” for retail in the West Midlands – 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.

After the leading left-wing MP, Zarah Sultana, stated her intention to co-found a new party alongside Jeremy Corbyn in July 2025, Josan responded that Labour was not a “far-left ideologically driven revolutionary construct.”

In a post to X (formerly Twitter), he said: “Ever since its creation there has been a tension about the nature of the Labour Party.

“The Labour Party is a social democratic Party and NOT a far-left ideologically driven revolutionary construct.

“Zarah is back in the irrelevance of the far-left. And the Labour Party will get on with the serious business of government.”

In November 2025, Josan was one of 34 cross-party MPs and peers who signed a letter to Ofcom demanding an investigation into the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The letter, led by Joani Reid, chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on antisemitism, called on the regulator to determine whether the platform was in breach of its legal duties under the Online Safety Act following a reported surge in antisemitic content and calls for violence against Jews on X.

Josan is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for crypto and digital assets (chair) and Yemen.

Josan delivered his maiden speech on 29 July 2024 during a debate on the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill.

In it, he said: “For me, the election was also about change across our communities. One example of that change in Smethwick is the fact that 60 years after that disgraceful racist campaign [in 1964], I – a child and grandchild of immigrants – can be elected to this House.

“That change is the result of many people across Smethwick and Sandwell working hard to build relationships and understanding across all communities and ensuring that we deliver on the aspirations of all our people.”

He added: “I have always been driven by a strong sense of humanity, fairness and justice. My upbringing and my Sikhi faith are key to my beliefs. I am reminded of the line in Gurbani written by Guru Nanak: ‘Ham Nahi Changae, Bura Nahi Koi.’

“I am not good; no one is bad. That draws attention to the equality of all of us, regardless of any of our attributes.”

Before entering parliament, Josan was elected as a member of the Labour Party national executive committee (NEC) in April 2020. He was supported by Labour First and by Progress/Progress Britain. A local party representative, he was one of seven NEC representatives who were elected as MPs in 2024.

Josan was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours.

Josan was re-appointed to the Labour NEC after the 2024 general election as a representative of the parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).

Josan served as a Labour councillor on Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council from 2002 to 2010.

Political views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Josan 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: Josan 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.”

Get Britain Working Group: Josan 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.”

Labour Growth Group: Josan has also 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.

“Energy and transport projects were promised but not built. That’s why we are writing to you to make clear that it’s in the national interest to start delivering on our manifesto promise, including 1.5 million more homes across this parliament at the earliest opportunity.

“A failure to act will not be forgiven by the public. Britain has a housing crisis and a huge infrastructure deficit – without strong and immediate action, this will only worsen.”

SERA: Josan 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): Josan 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

Josan 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).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Josan 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

Josan was born in Birmingham in August 1972. He joined the Labour Party at the age of 16.

Josan studied physics at Royal Holloway University of London, graduating in 1992.

He was director of Warley Hardware Centre, a hardware store and plumbers’ merchant, for 30 years from 1993 to 2024.

He served on the national executive committee of Sikh Council UK from 2012 to 2019.

Josan has served as vice-chair of Sikhs for Labour and chair of HOPE Not Hate’s board of trustees.

Personal Life

Josan is of British Indian heritage and is Sikh.

In his 2024 maiden speech, Josan told the House: “I consider myself incredibly lucky. I have the incredible support of my family: my wife Harvinder, my son Pavandeep, my daughter Gurkirta, my mum Bhajan Kaur Josan, my nephews Gagandeep, Puneetpal and Ishmeet, who are all here in the gallery.”

Trivia

Josan’s father, Swaran Singh Josan, was elected to Sandwell council in 1986. He passed away in 1999 when he was the cabinet member for housing in Sandwell.