Layla Moran is the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, having first been elected to parliament at the 2017 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Moran won 23,414 votes, representing 50.9% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Vinay Raniga, received 8,520 votes (18.5%), while the Labour candidate, Stephen Webb, secured 5,981 votes (13.0%). Moran was duly elected with a majority of 14,894 votes.

The Oxford West and Abingdon constituency covers parts of the City of Oxford and the town of Abingdon-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. It has historically been a Conservative-Liberal Democrat marginal seat, held by Moran since 2017.

Political Career

Moran serves as chair of the House of Commons health and social care select committee (since September 2024). The health and social care committee is a select committee of the House of Commons responsible for scrutinising the work of the Department of Health and Social Care and its associated public bodies.

By virtue of this role, Moran sits on the liaison committee – the so-called “super committee” composed of the cross-party chairs of all the other commons select committees. It has a broad oversight role, but is best known for its questioning of the prime minister in sessions that take place two or three times a year.

Moran previously served as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for foreign affairs and international development (interim) (2024), spokesperson for science, innovation and technology (2024), spokesperson for international development (2020-2024), spokesperson for digital, culture, media and sport (2019-2020), and spokesperson for education (2017-2020).

Moran stood as a candidate in the 2020 Liberal Democrat leadership election. Ed Davey, the MP for Kingston and Surbiton and a former energy secretary, ultimately secured 42,756 votes (63.5%) to Moran’s 24,564 (36.5%).

Moran was considered to be the more left-wing of the two final candidates. Unlike Davey, she did not serve in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition. On 23 June, fellow candidate Wera Hobhouse withdrew from the contest and declared her support for Moran. Hobhouse described Moran as “the only candidate who can break with our party’s damaging legacy from the coalition and adopt a centre-left position to defeat the Conservatives at the next election.”

Announcing her candidacy, Moran said it was “really important that we listen and understand where we’ve been going wrong”.

She added: “I want to fight to ensure education and equality of opportunity. To properly tackle the climate crisis, and to better engage in cooperative, progressive politics. I’m listening to members and voters, and I want to work with them to build a vision for the future of our party and country.”

The Liberal Democrats returned a meagre 11 MPs at the 2019 election, precipitating Jo Swinson’s resignation as leader. Having styled herself as a prospective prime minister, Swinson ultimately lost her seat.

Moran was backed by a total of three MPs, namely Hobhouse, Wendy Chamberlain and Jamie Stone. Davey won the support of fellow MPs Tim Farron (Lib Dem leader from 2015 to 2017), Daisy Cooper, Christine Jardine, Sarah Olney, and Munira Wilson. He was also backed by Lib Dem peer Menzies Campbell, who led the party from 2006 to 2007, and Jim Wallace, the former deputy first minister of Scotland.

In his victory speech, Davey paid tribute to Moran’s “passionate campaign”.

In February 2021, Moran, alongside two other MPs, successfully took legal action against the Department of Health and Social Care regarding contracts awarded during the Covid-19 pandemic. After the Good Law Project’s challenge, supported by Moran, Caroline Lucas and Debbie Abrahams, a judge ruled the health secretary, Matt Hancock, had “breached his legal obligation” by not publishing details within 30 days of contracts being signed.

The judge called it an “historic failure” by the department, adding: “The public were entitled to see who this money was going to, what it was being spent on and how the relevant contracts were awarded.”

Moran became the UK’s first MP of Palestinian descent when she was elected in 2017.

In November 2023, Moran told the House of Commons that a member of her family had died in Gaza due to their inability to access medical care.

She told MPs: “We are now over a month on from the atrocious attacks by Hamas on 7 October, and we were all right to utterly condemn the attack. But ahead of the votes that we are going to take in a moment I wanted to let the House know that today I lost my first family member.

“The reason why this is important, having spoken about how they are in a church in Gaza City and how they didn’t, I am afraid, die of a bomb – instead they died perhaps for lack of food, perhaps for dehydration.

“Their health deteriorated in the last week and they couldn’t get to the hospital they needed.”

Moran has introduced a Palestine Statehood (Recognition) Bill in every parliamentary session since she was first elected in 2017.

In October 2024, Moran introduced the Palestine Statehood (Recognition) (No. 3) Bill to parliament which called for the recognition of the state of Palestine. Addressing the House at the bill’s second reading, Moran told MPs that the proposed legislation “asks the British government to recognise the state of Palestine, but to do so without any preconditions.”

She added: “Palestinian people, especially young people, are increasingly despondent and desperate. Settlement proliferation acts like a woodworm that riddles the foundations of any peace process or viable Palestinian state.”

“The international community, frankly, sits on its hands. There is occasional condemnation, but my question to the government and other governments is, ‘What are you actually going to do about it?’

“It is no longer enough just to tweet about it. We must do something.”

Moran served on the House of Commons public accounts committee from September 2017 to November 2019.

Moran delivered her maiden speech on 27 June 2017 during a debate on education and local services.

In it, she said: “My constituency is a very special area, full of remarkable, talented people, but like all communities we face our fair share of challenges. Flooding, unaffordable housing and under-investment in public transport, notably cycling and buses, feature frequently, but none features more than the A34.”

She added: “I am here because I have a burning passion: that every child, no matter their background, should have a fair chance of making the best of this world. This passion was ignited when I was shocked and ashamed to learn that in this country – this great nation, a member of the G7 – that is not the case.

“I have lived in countries such as Ethiopia, Jamaica and Jordan, where such inequalities might be more understandable, but here we have no excuse. Such inequality is simply wrong, which is why I am so concerned by the government’s interpretation of fairer funding.”

Political views

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Moran supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore agreed with a majority of her constituents, 62% of whom also voted to Remain.

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Moran voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Electoral reform

Fair elections APPG: Moran is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for fair elections – a cross-party group of MPs and peers that campaigns for electoral reform. The group’s stated aims include replacing the first past the post (FPTP) voting system with a form of proportional representation, eliminating “dark money” and “undemocratic influence” from politics, and countering disinformation.

Electoral reform amendment: In May 2026, Moran signed an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill, calling on the government to establish a “national commission on electoral reform”. Tabled by Alex Sobel as chair of the fair elections APPG, the amendment aimed to force a rethink of the first past the post voting system.

At the time, Sobel described FPTP as “one of the biggest examples of a broken status quo in UK politics.” He invited colleagues to join this “common sense call to take a fresh look at how parliament is elected in modern Britain.”

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Moran 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.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Assisted dying

Moran 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): Moran 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.

Foreign policy and security

IPAC: Moran is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) – an international, cross-party network of legislators from democratic countries focused on relations with the People’s Republic of China. The alliance, established on 4 June 2020, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, was formed to unite “lawmakers worldwide, promoting democracy and addressing threats to the rules-based and human rights systems posed by the rise of China.”

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Moran 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): Moran voted for a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the king’s speech in the House of Commons calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war. Labour had tabled a rival motion, making a more moderate appeal for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict.

Civil liberties

Covid passes vote (2021): Moran was one of 126 MPs to vote against Covid passes in England in December 2021. The measure, introduced by Boris Johnson’s government, was carried by 369 votes to 126.

Covid passes campaign (2021): Moran 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

Layla Michelle Moran was born in Hammersmith, London on 12 September 1982. Her father, James Moran, is a former British EU ambassador, and her mother, Randa Moran, is a Christian Palestinian from Jerusalem.

Moran’s great-grandfather was the Palestinian writer Wasif Jawhariyyeh.

Due to her father’s diplomatic career, she grew up in various countries including Belgium, Greece, Ethiopia, Jordan and Jamaica. She attended schools in Brussels and Kingston before taking A-levels at Roedean School near Brighton.

Moran studied physics at Imperial College London (2000-2003) and gained a PGCE teaching qualification from Brunel University London (2005-2007). She also holds a master’s degree in comparative education from the UCL Institute of Education (2007-2008).

She worked as a maths and physics teacher at international schools in Brussels and London between 2003 and 2012.

Personal Life

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

Moran came out as pansexual in January 2020, believed to be the first UK parliamentarian to do so.

In a January 2020 interview with PinkNews, Moran explained that she identifies as pansexual because “it doesn’t matter about the physical attributions of the person you fall in love with, it’s about the person themselves”.

She added: “Parliament is a weird, backwards place. I don’t know if there’s any other [MPs] who would identify as pansexual, and not that many who identify as bisexual – there are a few women who are brilliant role models who have come out in their lesbian relationships.

“People like Ruth Davidson and Justine Greening are people I look to to have done this kind of thing in the past.”

Her partner is Rosy Cobb, a former Liberal Democrat press officer. They live in West Oxfordshire.

In May 2025, Moran announced the birth of her first child.

At the time, Moran said: “In this moment of joy for our family I want to thank the NHS staff who are taking such good care of us.

“I also want to thank in advance my amazing parliamentary and campaigns staff, the clerks of the select committee and my fellow MPs for supporting me in taking parental leave.

“Finally, thanks to those who have sent their good wishes. We feel blessed indeed.”

Moran speaks French fluently, along with some Spanish, Arabic, and Greek. She was baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church but now identifies as a humanist.

Trivia

Moran is the first female Liberal Democrat MP from an ethnic minority background, the first MP of Palestinian descent, and the first openly pansexual UK parliamentarian.