Luke Charters is the Labour Party MP for York Outer, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Charters won 23,161 votes, representing 45.3% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Julian Sturdy, received 13,770 votes (26.9%). The Reform UK candidate received 5,912 votes (11.6%). Charters was duly elected with a majority of 9,391.

The York Outer constituency was created in 2010. It was held continuously by the Conservative Party until 2024.

Charters’s immediate predecessor as the MP for York Outer was Julian Sturdy of the Conservative Party. Saturday represented the seat from 2010 to 2024.

Political Career

Charters currently serves as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) jointly in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Cabinet Office. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs. The role is widely regarded as the first step on the ministerial ladder. Although they cannot speak for the government in debates, a PPS is bound by collective responsibility and becomes part of the so-called “payroll vote”, expected to support the official line in all divisions. Charters was appointed to this role in July 2026, following the Labour leadership contest and Andy Burnham’s elevation as prime minister.

In this joint PPS role, Charters has said he would be responsible for “working across both departments driving forward devolution.”

Charters previously served as a PPS in the Department for Business and Trade (2025-2026). He stood down from the role in May 2026.

In a statement setting out his decision to step down as a PPS, Charters said it has been “a genuine privilege to put Labour values into practice in this role.”

He added: “After much reflection over recent weeks, I’ve thought carefully about where I stand on things.

“As a party, we have to be bolder with our ideas and more confident in our approach, kinder to ourselves as one Labour family, and we must make people in every corner of this country feel that politics is genuinely working for them in their everyday lives.”

Charters’ decision to step down came after he called for Andy Burnham to be selected as the Labour candidate for the 2026 Makerfield by-election. Charters’ intervention came some days before Burnham’s selection was confirmed.

In the wake of the Makerfield by-election, which returned Burnham to parliament, Charters called on Keir Starmer to “read the room”.

He told LBC Radio: “I think it’d be good for this weekend for the PM to take heed of what was an absolutely seismic and colossal message here…

“If he thinks he could have delivered that, I’m afraid the electoral arithmetic shows he didn’t deliver that. The PM’s got to really quickly reflect on and read the room here on what’s happening here in Makefield.”

The comments came as Charters conducted a media round on behalf of camp Burnham following the Makerfield contest.

In the summer of 2025, Charters became the first male MP to take extended paternity leave and employ a locum, his office manager, to cover his constituency work. “Being an MP is a privilege. It’s one of the busiest jobs in Britain, but I’ve got to be a dad first and an MP second”, he told the Guardian at the time.

In June 2025, Charters was one of 22 newly elected Labour MPs who co-signed a letter to the leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell, and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) calling for improved paternity leave for parliamentary staff. The letter, organised in collaboration with the campaign group The Dad Shift, argued that the current provision of two weeks’ paid leave was “unfair” and left parliament trailing behind leading private and public sector employers.

The letter said current rules meant MPs were “unable to support our staff appropriately at some of the most important times of their lives”.

They added: “Dads in our offices get just two weeks off, a situation that is unfair and puts parliament many steps behind top employers across the country.”

In response, a government spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “We are committed to making sure parents receive the best possible support to balance their work and home lives as part of our Plan to Make Work Pay.”

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

Charters has served as a member of the House of Commons public accounts committee (2024-2025).

Charters delivered his maiden speech on 17 July 2024 in a debate on the king’s speech. In it, he spoke of the “power of a good state education”, citing his relationship with his “wise and compassionate religious studies teacher.”

He added: “We have a chancellor [Rachel Reeves] from the white rose contingent [Yorkshire], so the best thing is we have the Yorkshire value of frugality as a national policy, ensuring the public get good value for money.

“How welcome that is after 14 long years of managed decline, as our country finds itself at a critical juncture. Thankfully, the question is no longer who gets to rebuild Britain, but how we will take the mantle on.”

He hailed the new Labour government, elected earlier that month, as “both pro-business and pro-worker.”

He said that establishing a new “bank hub” in his constituency, one of 350 pledged by the Labour government, would be one of his “priorities”.

He concluded: “I will be tirelessly dedicated to my constituents. I shall be a strong national campaigner when it comes to improving financial services and tackling fraud. I am ready and willing to serve the area that has given me so much.”

Before entering parliament, Charters was elected as a Labour councillor on the London Borough of Newham Council in May 2022. He stepped down in 2023.

Charters previously stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate for York Outer in the 2017 general election.

Political views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Charters 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: Charters 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: Charters 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: Charters 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”.

Labour Movement for Europe: Charters was endorsed by the Labour Movement for Europe (LME) in the 2024 general election. Founded in 1981, LME is a pro-European socialist society affiliated with the Labour Party. It campaigns for a close relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. The organisation refers to itself as the “home of the pro-Europeans in the Labour and trade union movement”.

Compass: Charters was endorsed by local groups of the cross-party organisation Compass during the 2024 general election. Compass is a thinktank and campaign group. As part of its “Win as One” campaign in the 2024 election, local Compass groups backed a slate of progressive candidates who had pledged their support for electoral reform. The central aim of the initiative was to elect a “caucus” of MPs who would champion the cause of replacing the first past the post (FPTP) electoral system.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Charters 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

Charters 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): Charters 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

Born Luke Jonathan Charters in 1995 in York, he attended Huntington School in the city.

He graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) and later obtained a master’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago.

Charters worked at the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), focusing on fraud.

Charters later worked in the fintech industry.

Personal Life

Charters lives in the York Outer constituency with his wife and two children.

In his 2024 maiden speech, Charters told the House: “I would not be here were it not for the wonderful education I received at Huntington school.

“That education gave me the confidence and skills to go on and change lives, but there was one stand-out teacher – Robin Parmiter, my wise and compassionate religious studies teacher. I went on to name my son Robin after him, so my son is a continual reminder of the power of a good state education.”

Trivia

Charters first contested the York Outer seat in 2017 at the age of 21.