Joani Reid is the Labour MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Reid (standing as a Labour candidate) won 22,682 votes, representing 48.6% of the vote. The Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate, Grant Costello, received 13,625 votes (29.2%), while the Conservative candidate, Ross Lambie, secured 3,547 votes (7.6%). Reid was duly elected with a majority of 9,057.  

The East Kilbride and Strathaven constituency was newly created ahead of the 2024 general election, formed from the East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, and Lanark and Hamilton East seats.

Political Career

Reid is a member of the House of Commons home affairs select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for scrutinising the work of the Home Office and its associated bodies. It examines government policy, spending and the law in areas including immigration, security and policing.

In March 2026, Reid resigned the Labour whip, saying she was “voluntarily suspending” herself from the party”. It came after her husband, David Taylor, was arrested on suspicion of spying for China. Taylor denied the claims.

In a statement, Reid said: “This week has been the worst of my life. The shock of recent days has been difficult for me and my family.

“I want to reiterate something very important: I am not under investigation by the police and no accusations have been against me. I have done nothing wrong.

“I love my country. To serve the people of East Kilbride and Strathaven as their MP and the Labour Party has been – and continues to be – the privilege of my life…

“Following discussions with the chief whip, I am voluntarily suspending myself from the whip this evening and will not sit as a Labour MP until internal investigations are concluded. I will welcome and cooperate with any questions and worries the party may have.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Joani Reid has agreed to fully cooperate with the Labour Party’s investigation into these matters.”

Reid had the Labour whip restored in August 2026.

In January 2026, Reid was one of over 60 Labour MPs to sign a letter to the prime minister calling for the introduction of an Australia-style ban on social media access for children under the age of 16. Organised by Plymouth Moor View MP Fred Thomas, the initiative brought together a cross-factional coalition of backbenchers – spanning the Socialist Campaign Group, Tribune Group and Blue Labour – to demand action.

The letter called on Keir Starmer to “show leadership” by introducing a minimum age for social media access “to protect young people from the consequences of unregulated, addictive social media platforms”.

It stated: “We are all strong supporters of technology, and of this Labour government’s ambition to use tech to improve lives. But successive governments have done far too little to protect young people from the consequences of unregulated, addictive social media platforms.”

In November 2025, Reid organised a letter to Ofcom demanding an investigation into the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). It was signed by 34 cross-party MPs and peers. The letter 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.

In the wake of the 2024 general election, which saw Labour returned to power after 14 years in opposition, Reid was appointed by 10 Downing Street as a “mission champion” for Scotland – 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.

Reid is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for antisemitism (chair) and children’s online safety (chair).

Reid delivered her maiden speech on 10 October 2024 during a debate on Team GB and Paralympics GB.

In it, she said: “None of us is in this House by right. We propose ourselves, but it is the voters who dispose. The people are the masters of our fate, and all of us have a duty of trust and a responsibility to work hard, and I am determined to repay the trust placed in me by representing my constituents to the very best of my ability.”

She added: “Other things struck me and were emphasised by the civil disorder that we saw over the summer. We share serious concerns across the House about the rise of hate, whether that be antisemitism, Islamophobia or misogyny, which has infected far too much of our public discourse in recent years, particularly on social media.

“I intend to dedicate much of my time here to working cross-party to address the alarming upsurge in racism and bigotry online, particularly in my work as chair of the all-party parliamentary group against antisemitism…

“To push back and defeat hate, we must have hope, but that hope must be real and based on realism rather than idealism or indeed miracles. There is no contradiction between a politics that is realistic and a politics that is hopeful. Indeed, we have all had enough – too much – false hope in the last few years.”

Before entering parliament, Reid served as a Labour councillor on Lewisham London Borough Council (2014-2022).

Political views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Reid 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

Get Britain Working Group: Reid 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: Reid 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.”

Electoral reform

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Reid voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Reid 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

Reid 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): Reid 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

Reid was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in the 1980s.

She studied politics and philosophy at the University of Glasgow, graduating in 2008.

Reid moved to London and built a career in public policy. She was head of policy for the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

Personal Life

Reid has two children.

Trivia

Reid’s grandfather, Jimmy Reid, was a key figure in the 1971 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in and a famous orator.