Margaret Mullane is the Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Mullane won 16,571 votes, representing 42.6% of the vote. The Reform UK candidate, Kevin Godfrey, received 9,398 votes (24.2%), while the Conservative candidate, Sam Holland, secured 6,926 votes (17.8%). Mullane was duly elected with a majority of 7,173.  

The Dagenham and Rainham constituency is located in East London. The seat has been held by the Labour Party since its creation in 2010, previously by Jon Cruddas, who retired in 2024.  

Political Career

Mullane is a member of the House of Commons home affairs select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for scrutinising the work of the Home Office and its associated bodies. It examines government policy, spending and the law in areas including immigration, security and policing.

Mullane is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for Tigray (chair).

Mullane delivered her maiden speech on 31 October 2024 during a debate on income tax.

In it, she said: “I was well and truly made in Dagenham, and I am also the first woman to represent the seat since the boundaries were redrawn in 2010…

“I am proud to join the long list of political women from Dagenham, such as the Ford machinists whose battle paved the way for the Equal Pay Act in the ’70s.”

“It was the miners’ strike that drew me into politics. Seeing secure jobs stolen away, the injustice of Orgreave and the heart being ripped out of working-class communities by decisions made in Westminster, I knew then that I wanted to be a voice for working-class people.”

She added: “I have always been a champion of council housing at traditional social rents, and I will continue to do that in parliament…

“As we build – there is a lot of development planned for Dagenham and Rainham – we must ensure not only that the homes are affordable, but that there are schools, GPs and dentists, transport options, leisure facilities, green spaces and the amenities needed to thrive.”

Before entering politics, Mullane was elected as a Labour councillor on the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Council in May 2010. She stood down from the council in 2024.

Political Views

Factional identity and party tradition

Blue Labour: Mullane has been associated with the Blue Labour group in parliament. Founded by Labour peer Lord Glasman in 2009, the Blue Labour creed champions what it terms the politics of “faith, family and flag”, embracing a form of social conservatism with a progressive or left-wing economic policy. Blue Labour articulates a critique of both New Labour’s social liberalism and free-market globalisation.

Speaking at a Blue Labour fringe event at the party’s annual conference in 2025, Mullane called for the community spirit that helped repel the British National Party (BNP) in the 2000s.

Mullane said: “Sadly, an element of their [BNP] politics has never gone away, I never think it did. And now I see that conditions that are going to lead a lot of the people, particularly in my seat, in my very concerned, to be voting for Reform.”

Welfare

Welfare ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Mullane 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.

Welfare vote (July 2025): Mullane 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.

In a statement at the time, Mullane said: “I was pleased to see the government listened to the concerns of backbench MPs and made changes to the bill. Yet this has thrown up another set of issues for me by potentially creating a two-tier system not based on need, but on the date someone turned to us for help…

“The reasoned amendment I signed urged delay on this bill, so that measures could be genuinely co-produced with disabled people who rely on support and the charities who advocate for them. A delay would also give MPs time to fully consider impact assessments…

“I know the voice of my community, and as it stands I cannot in good conscience vote for this bill.”

Assisted dying

Mullane voted against 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).

In a May 2025 statement, Mullane said she was “not comfortable on a moral or ethical footing with the potential impact this Bill could have on the most vulnerable and more isolated members of society.

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Mullane voted against 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.

Mullane was one of 25 Labour MPs to vote against the amendment.

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Mullane 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.

Before Politics

Mullane grew up in Dagenham, East London, and attended St Peter’s School.

Mullane later studied humanities and politics at Birkbeck, University of London.  

Mullane worked for 13 years as the office manager for her predecessor, Jon Cruddas. Before this, she worked in insurance and in a call centre.

Personal Life

Mullane lives in her Dagenham and Rainham constituency.

Trivia

Mullane worked for her predecessor, Jon Cruddas, as his office manager for 13 years before succeeding him as the MP for Dagenham and Rainham.