Lloyd Hatton is the Labour MP for South Dorset, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Hatton received 15,659 votes (31.9%). The Conservative candidate, Richard Drax, received 14,611 votes (29.8%), while the Reform UK candidate, Morgan Young, secured 8,168 votes (16.7%). Hatton was elected with a majority of 1,048 votes.

The South Dorset constituency is located in South West England. The seat, created in 1885, was historically a Conservative stronghold. Labour previously held the seat following a by-election in 1962, and again from 2001 to 2010.

Hatton’s immediate predecessor as the MP for South Dorset was Richard Drax of the Conservative Party. Drax represented the seat from 2010 to 2024.

Political Career

Hatton served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero from May to July 2026). A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs.

Hatton left government as part of the July 2026 reshuffle conducted by Andy Burnham upon his appointment as prime minister.

Hatton’s appointment as a DESNZ PPS was part of a targeted reshuffle designed to stabilise Keir Starmer’s position as prime minister after a series of resignations. At least four PPSs stepped down calling for Starmer to resign or set out a timetable for his departure. The move followed the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. Conversely, Hatton’s appointment signalled their support for the prime minister.

As such, Hatton was among the over 100 Labour MPs who signed the May 2026 joint statement insisting it was “no time for a leadership contest.”

The statement read: “Last week we had a devastatingly tough set of election results. It shows we have a hard job ahead to win back trust from the electorate.

“That job needs to start today – with all of us working together to deliver the change the country needs.

“We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest.”

In July 2025, Hatton called for the government to force the British Virgin Islands (BVI) to implement a public company register, citing delays in transparency reforms.

In an article for the House magazine, written alongside Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell, he argued that an economy relying on “economy that relies upon providing secrecy for crooks and oligarchs is not sustainable, and it is certainly not defensible.”

He maintained that “repeated rule-breaking undermines Britain’s national security, facilitates the flow of ill-gotten gains out of developing economies, and enables aggressive tax avoidance and evasion.”

In January 2026, Hatton claimed that intermediary jurisdictions like the British Virgin Islands and Guernsey were being used to breach sanctions. “Transparency at home and abroad is essential if sanctions are to be enforced effectively”, he told the commons.

“That means ending all tolerance of secrecy in our overseas territories and Crown dependencies, which we all know have provided shelter for dirty money for far too long.”

Hatton called for the immediate adoption of “public registers of beneficial ownership, as they have promised time and again but failed to deliver.”

Representatives for Jersey and Guernsey pushed back on Hatton’s claims.

In June 2025, Hatton 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.”

Hatton has sat as a member of the House of Commons public accounts committee (2024-2026).

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

Hatton is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for the South West (vice chair) and water pollution (vice chair).

Hatton delivered his maiden speech on 13 November 2024 during a debate on environmental protection.

In it, he said: “Weymouth is a fantastic place to call home, but that does not mean our town is without its challenges. Growing up there the message I too often heard was that to get on, you had to get out. I reject that outlook altogether.

“I am proud to call Weymouth home and I will do everything I can to attract the jobs, investment and opportunities that every young person there deserves.”

He added: “I will always stand up for the proud communities living in Portland, and I will do what I can to shrink the gap between communities and the corridors of power. I have begun by working with the government to shut down the Bibby Stockholm barge, and I will continue by challenging proposals to build an incinerator and by campaigning for improved healthcare and much-needed green investment.”

Before entering parliament, Hatton served as a Labour councillor on Camden London Borough Council from 2022 to 2024.

Political Views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Hatton 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

Hatton 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.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Hatton 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

Hatton 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).

Writing in the Dorset Echo at the time of the bill’s second reading, Hatton said: “With MPs granted a free vote, I want to be clear that I will vote to support this new legislation.

“However, this is not a decision to be taken lightly. Any changes to the law must include robust safeguards to protect vulnerable individuals and reassure those with concerns.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Hatton 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

Hatton grew up in the 1990s in Wyke Regis, Weymouth, Dorset. He attended Holy Trinity Primary School and All Saints Academy.

He studied history and politics at Queen Mary University of London.

His first job was at a fish and chip shop.

After graduating, he worked as a political researcher. He is also a former member of the UK Youth Parliament and has served as a school governor.

Personal Life

Hatton lived in both Weymouth and London while serving as a Camden councillor.

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

Trivia

Hatton was among the youngest MPs elected in the 2024 general election. He was aged 28 at the time.

He played rugby for Weymouth RFC.