Luke Pollard is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, having first been elected to parliament at the 2017 general election.  

In the 2024 general election, Pollard received 20,795 votes, representing 49.4% of the vote share. The Reform UK candidate, Peter Gold, received 7,467 votes (17.7%), while the Conservative candidate, Gareth Streeter, secured 6,873 votes (16.3%). Pollard was duly re-elected with a majority of 13,328 votes.  

The Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency covers the city centre, waterfront, and western parts of Plymouth in Devon. It is home to HMNB Devonport, the largest naval base in Western Europe, and also has a significant student population linked to the University of Plymouth.  

The seat has a history of being a marginal constituency, changing hands between Labour and the Conservatives. Pollard gained the seat for Labour from the Conservatives in 2017 and has held it since. Predecessor MPs include Oliver Colvile (Conservative, 2010-2017) and Linda Gilroy (Labour, representing predecessor seat Plymouth Sutton, 1997-2010).

Political Career

Pollard was appointed to the post of minister of state for defence readiness and industry in the Ministry of Defence in the September 2025 ministerial reshuffle. He served as parliamentary under-secretary of state for the armed forces from July 2024 to September 2025.

Prior to the 2024 general election, which saw Labour returned to power after 14 years in opposition, Pollard served as shadow minister for the armed forces from January 2022 to July 2024. .

Pollard previously served in the shadow cabinet as shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs from January 2020 until November 2021, when he stepped down during a reshuffle.

In a letter addressed to Starmer at the time, Pollard said the Labour leader had asked him to “stand back” from the shadow cabinet.

He wrote: “I understand you want to take the shadow cabinet in a different direction, and that is why you have asked to me stand back from the shadow cabinet…

“I will now return to the backbenches and refocus on Plymouth issues. I will also be a louder voice on the need for more urgent action on the climate and nature crisis, the need to renew our democracy by making the case for proportional representation, and the need for bolder changes on gun laws after the shooting in Keyham.”

A PoliticsHome article, published in December 2021, reported that “party insiders were surprised by the demotion of Luke Pollard, who was viewed as a moderate and loyal ally to Starmer.”

It added: “Starmer allegedly offered the former shadow secretary for environment, food and rural affairs his choice of any junior ministerial brief, but Pollard opted for a return to the backbenches instead.”

Before becoming shadow environment secretary, he was a shadow environment minister covering flooding and coastal communities (July 2018 – January 2020).

Pollard also served briefly as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the shadow environment secretary, Sue Hayman, in 2017.

Pollard sat as a member of the House of Commons transport select committee from September 2017 to October 2018.

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

Pollard delivered his maiden speech on 26 June 2017 during a debate on the Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing Bill.

In it, he said: “I notice that nearly all members who have spoken to date have praised their local airport. Plymouth’s airport closed in 2010. I implore the minister to look again at how measures can be put in place to help us to reopen our airport in Plymouth so that I can join the cohort of members who have praised their own airport.

“At the moment, my airport is growing grass on the runway. I hope it can open again soon, so that holidaymakers in Plymouth can enjoy the same protections that ATOL affords holidaymakers leaving other airports.”

He added: “I am in an odd position in this debate as I have worked for the Association of British Travel Agents and Thomas Cook, and I now sit on the other side of the fence examining the ATOL regulations for which I made the argument several years ago.

“It is great to be back on this subject again.”

Pollard previously contested the constituencies of Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, and South West Devon in the 2015 and 2010 general elections respectively.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Pollard 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.

Labour leadership 2020: Pollard was one of 82 Labour MPs who nominated Keir Starmer 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.

Starmer’s 82 nominations were the highest of any candidate. The shadow Brexit secretary won a decisive victory in the first round with 56.2% of the vote, defeating Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy.

Factional identity and party tradition

SERA: Pollard 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”.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Pollard supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore disagreed with a majority of his constituents, 54.4% of whom voted to Leave.

Remain pledge: During the 2019 general election campaign, Pollard was one of 193 Labour candidates to sign the anti-Brexit “Remain pledge”, drawn up by the campaign group Remain Labour.

It stated: “Labour is committed to a confirmatory referendum, to give you the final say on Brexit. If elected as your Labour MP, I pledge to campaign to Remain in the EU.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Pollard 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

Pollard voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at its second reading in November 2024. On the third reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in June 2025, Pollard did not record a vote.

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Pollard 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

Sanctioned (Russia): In April 2022, Pollard was among the group of MPs placed on a sanctions list by the Russian government. The measure barred them from entering Russia and was presented by Moscow as a retaliatory response to the UK’s stance on the invasion of Ukraine.

Before Politics

Born in Plymouth on 10 April 1980, Luke Pollard grew up in Devon. His father served as a submariner in the Royal Navy based at Devonport, and his mother worked at the College of St Mark and St John.  

Pollard attended Tavistock College and Christleton High School before studying politics at the University of Exeter. He graduated with first-class honours in 2001.

Pollard served as president of the University of Exeter Students’ Guild from 2001 to 2002.  

After university, Pollard worked as an adviser to Labour politicians David Jamieson and George Foulkes. He later worked in public relations as an account director for Edelman, and then served as head of public affairs for the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) from 2009 to 2013, followed by a period as ABTA’s head of European development until 2014.

From 2015 until his election in 2017, Pollard was a director at the consultancy firm Field Consulting. 

Personal Life

Pollard is Plymouth’s first openly gay MP. He married his partner, Sydney Robertson, a contemporary dancer, in 2024.

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

Trivia

Pollard is reportedly a keen wild swimmer.

He supports Plymouth Argyle Football Club.