Kate Osborne is the Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East, having first been elected to parliament for the predecessor seat of Jarrow at the 2019 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Osborne received 18,856 votes, representing 51.3% of the vote share. The Reform UK candidate, Lynda Alexander, received 9,892 votes (26.9%), while the Conservative candidate, Jack Gebhard, secured 3,354 votes (9.1%). Osborne was duly re-elected with a majority of 8,964 votes.

The Jarrow and Gateshead East constituency is located in Tyne and Wear, covering areas on the south bank of the River Tyne including Jarrow and Boldon (from the former Jarrow seat) and parts of eastern Gateshead.

It is a new constituency created for the 2024 general election, primarily from the abolished Jarrow seat, with additions from Gateshead and South Shields. The predecessor Jarrow seat includes the starting point of the 1936 Jarrow March against unemployment and has been a safe Labour seat since 1935.

Political Career

At the beginning of the parliament elected in 2024, Osborne stood unsuccessfully for election as chair of the women and equalities committee. In the contest, the results of which were announced in September 2024, Osborne secured 182 votes, placing second. They were ultimately defeated by Sarah Owen, who won the support of 354 colleagues.

Osborne previously served as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland (Peter Kyle). She briefly served as PPS to the shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, from January to April 2020. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs.

In December 2023, Osborne clashed with Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary and equalities minister, during a session of the women and equalities committee. Badenoch was warned about the use of “unparliamentary language” after she accused Osborne of lying.

It came as Osborne accused Badenoch of previously using “inflammatory language that likens children and young people coming out as trans to the spread of a disease”.

Badenoch responded: “That is a lie and I think you should withdraw that statement. That is a lie. You are lying… I have never ever used the word disease, and this is exactly what I am talking about.”

She added: “I will not have my name maligned by people making false statements about me that are not true. We have to do better than this.”

Osborne subsequently demanded an apology, claiming Badenoch had previously used the word “epidemic” when referring to young people coming out as trans.

In a letter addressed to Badenoch, she wrote: “Your behaviour at the committee yesterday was beyond unparliamentary and I am requesting a full formal apology for your outrageous liar slur.”

In October 2020, Osborne was one of the 34 Labour MPs to break the party whip by voting against the covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill at its commons third reading. The proposed legislation, often referred to as the “spycops bill”, was introduced by the Conservative government to authorise undercover agents and informants to commit crimes while on operations. The Labour Party had whipped its representatives to abstain on the bill on the basis that the legislation is “far from perfect” yet “necessary” due to “the need to provide a clear lawful framework for the use of human intelligence sources”.

Osborne was a member of the House of Commons finance committee (2024-2025), women and equalities committee (2020-2024), the backbench business committee (2021-2024), and the education committee (2021-2023).

Osborne is a patron of LGBT+ Labour – a socialist society formally affiliated with the Labour Party.

Osborne is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for global LGBT+ rights, north east and women’s football.

Osborne delivered her maiden speech on 5 February 2020, during a debate on local government finance.

In it, she said: “Sadly, like a lot of the country, particularly in the north-east, we now have food banks, high unemployment, poverty and struggle, but the people of Jarrow are resilient and proud of their history, community and working-class solidarity.

“They never give up, and I say to this House and them: neither will I.”

She added: “I will fight for our children and young people to have the education they deserve. We need increased funding for our schools and investment in further education. I will not shirk one of the biggest battles still confronting us today, and that is against universal credit, a catastrophe that has had a cruel effect on our most vulnerable families.”

Before entering parliament, Osborne was a Labour councillor on North Tyneside Council, representing the Preston ward from 2010 until she stood down in 2022.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Starmer stand down: In May 2026, Osborne publicly called for Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to step down/set out a timetable for his departure. The move followed the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru.

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Osborne was one of 24 Labour MPs who nominated Bell Ribeiro-Addy 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.

Ribeiro-Addy, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG), was seen as the candidate on the left of the party. She secured only 24 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), far short of the 80 required under rules introduced in 2021.

Labour leadership 2020: Osborne was one of 33 Labour MPs who nominated Rebecca Long-Bailey for the party’s leadership in early 2020. The election was triggered by the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn following the party’s defeat in the 2019 general election, which resulted in Labour’s fewest seats in the House of Commons since 1935.

Long-Bailey, then the shadow business secretary, was widely regarded as the continuity candidate for the party’s left/Corbynite wing. Long-Bailey finished second with 27.6% of the vote, losing to Keir Starmer, who won a decisive victory in the first round with 56.2%.

Factional identity and party tradition

Socialist Campaign Group: Osborne has been listed as a member of the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG) – the standard-bearer of the left wing within the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). Founded in 1982 by followers of Tony Benn, the group has traditionally advocated policies such as widespread public ownership, wealth redistribution and strengthened trade union rights.

Corbyn suspension: In November 2020, Osborne was among the 32 SCG MPs to sign a statement declaring that they opposed the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn and calling for the disciplinary action to be “swiftly reversed”.

The statement read: “This decision and the division it causes severely undermines efforts to unite to defeat antisemitism and fully implement the EHRC [Equality and Human Rights Commission] recommendations and to challenge and defeat this disastrous Conservative government.”

Corbyn’s suspension came after he issued a response to the EHRC report, arguing “the scale of the [antisemitism] problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents”.

Momentum endorsement: Osborne was endorsed by the left-wing campaign group Momentum in the 2024 general election. Momentum was founded in 2015 to support the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and to campaign for socialist policies within the Labour party.

Trade Union Group: Osborne is a member of the Trade Union Group of Labour MPs. This long-standing group, founded in 1926, serves as a link between the Labour party and the trade union movement, aiming to ensure that the voices of working people and their unions are represented in parliament.

Welfare

Welfare ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Osborne was one of the over 120 Labour MPs to sign the reasoned amendment to the government’s flagship welfare bill which aimed to reject the proposed legislation.

The amendment, in the name of senior Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, objected to the fact that the bill had not been subject to a “formal consultation with disabled people” and that “250,000 people will be pushed into poverty” as a result of it, according to a government impact assessment.

The motion also called on the government to wait for the publication of the review into the Personal Independence Payment (Pip), helmed by minister Sir Stephen Timms, and the independent review, conducted by Sir Charlie Mayfield, into how the employment of disabled people could be boosted.

In May 2025, Osborne had signed a letter warning the government that the cuts were “impossible to support” and calling for a change in direction.

The letter, signed by 42 Labour MPs, read: “The planned cuts of more than £7bn represent the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity and over 3 million of our poorest and most disadvantaged will be affected.

“Whilst the government may have correctly diagnosed the problem of a broken benefits system and a lack of job opportunities for those who are able to work, they have come up with the wrong medicine. Cuts don’t create jobs, they just cause more hardship.”

Welfare vote (July 2025): Osborne went on to vote against the 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.

Winter fuel payment EDM: In September 2024, Osborne signed an early day motion (EDM) expressing concern over the government’s proposed changes to the winter fuel payment. The motion called on the government to “postpone the ending of winter fuel payments and establish a comprehensive strategy to tackle fuel poverty, health inequality and low incomes among older people.”

Assisted dying

Osborne 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): Osborne 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.

Letter on treatment of LGBT+ citizens: In June 2025, Osborne was one of 16 Labour MPs to sign a letter to the foreign secretary, David Lammy, accusing the government of failing to protect the rights of LGBT+ citizens in the British Overseas Territories. The group argued that the absence of legal protections in jurisdictions such as the Turks and Caicos, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and Montserrat constituted a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

According to a PoliticsHome report, the letter described the government’s “inaction on these injustices is not only a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights but, more importantly, a betrayal of the values Britain has long championed on the world stage.”

It added: “By failing to prevent differential treatment of LGBT+ persons in these jurisdictions, which naturally includes British citizens, the UK has allowed a two-tier system of British LGBT+ rights to emerge, in which the promise of equality and dignity extends only to some, not all, of its citizens and territories.”

Palestine

LFPME: Osborne 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.

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Osborne was among the over 254 MPs to sign a cross-party letter calling for the government to immediately recognise the state of Palestine. The letter called on the prime minister and foreign secretary to recognise Palestine at the UN Conference then taking place in New York.

Ceasefire vote (November 2023): Osborne was among 56 Labour MPs to vote in favour of a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the King’s Speech in the House of Commons calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza – defying the instruction set out by the party’s frontbench. Labour had tabled its own motion, making a more moderate appeal for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict and ordered its representatives to support that stance.

Civil liberties

Covid passes campaign (2021): Osborne was one of over 70 MPs and peers who launched a cross-party campaign against the “divisive and discriminatory use” of Covid passes in April 2021. The campaign was triggered by government reviews into “vaccine passports”, which signatories argued would create a two-tier society and infringe upon fundamental civil liberties.

Before Politics

Before becoming an MP, Osborne worked for Royal Mail for 25 years. She was an active trade unionist, including with the Union of Communication Workers (predecessor to the CWU) and as a representative for Unite the Union.

Personal Life

Kate Osborne is reportedly married to Pamela Brooks, a former Labour councillor on North Tyneside Council. They both represented the Preston ward concurrently for a period.

In 2024, PinkNews listed Osborne among a number of out LGBTQ+ parliamentarians.

Osborne has two sons.

Trivia

In March 2020, Osborne became the second MP to be diagnosed with coronavirus.

In a post to social media at the time, Osborne said she would “continue to self isolate until I have fought off the illness, but in the mean time I would encourage everyone to band together and support the most vulnerable in our communities.”