Olly Glover is the Liberal Democrat MP for Didcot and Wantage, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Glover received 21,793 votes (39.8%). The Conservative candidate, David Johnston, received 15,560 votes (28.4%), while the Labour candidate, Mocky Khan, secured 8,045 votes (14.7%). Glover was elected with a majority of 6,233 votes.

The Didcot and Wantage constituency is located in Oxfordshire, South East England. It was newly created ahead of the 2024 election, formed primarily from the former Wantage constituency (held by the Conservatives) with a smaller part from the former Henley constituency.

The former Wantage seat was represented by David Johnston of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2024.

Political Career

Glover currently serves on the Liberal Democrat frontbench as transport spokesperson. He was appointed to this role in September 2025.

Glover is a member of the House of Commons transport select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for the scrutiny of the Department for Transport and its associated public bodies. Its remit covers all aspects of transport policy in England, as well as UK-wide issues such as aviation and maritime policy.

In October 2024, Glover introduced the Public Services (Targets) Bill to parliament. It sought to require government to set targets for the provision of public services and amenities, while having regard to targets for the building of new homes.

In January 2026, Glover introduced the Rail Passengers’ Charter Bill to parliament. It sought to set out certain guarantees and targets in relation to the provision of passenger rail services.

Glover is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for cycling and walking, and motor neurone disease.

Glover delivered his maiden speech on 22 July 2024 during a debate on the economy, welfare and public services.

In it, he said: “I arrive in parliament following a career on the railway, serving the public, and I hope to apply my knowledge and experience to working with others to advance both rail infrastructure and public services in my seat.”

He added: “I commend the government on their commitment to genuinely affordable housing, but ask them to bear in mind that residents would be more supportive of housing growth were the health, education, and transport facilities needed to support it delivered in parallel.”

Before entering parliament, Glover was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor to Didcot Town Council and Milton Parish Council in the May 2023 local elections. He stepped down from Didcot Town Council in 2025.

Glover previously stood unsuccessfully as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Tooting constituency in London in the 2019 general election.

Political Views

The Liberal Democrats (or Lib Dems) are a liberal political party, occupying the centre to centre-left ground in British politics.

The preamble to the Lib Dem constitution begins: “The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.”

The Liberal Democrat autumn conference in 2021 ratified a policy paper entitled What Liberal Democrats Believe. The paper, an attempt to expand on the constitution’s preamble, was framed around seven “principles and values”.

The party’s core values were described as “liberty, equality, democracy, community, internationalism and environmentalism.”

Glover 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.

Glover 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.

In May 2026, Glover 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.”

In December 2024, Glover 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.”

Brexit and Europe

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Glover 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.

Assisted dying

Glover 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): Glover 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 Oliver Guy Nicholas Glover, he attended Hampton School. He graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2006 with a degree in History.

Glover held operational management positions in various railway companies and served for two years as head of safety, health and environment for the North and East Route at Network Rail (2020-2022).

Glover also worked as a transport consultant at Atkins before his election to parliament.

Personal Life

Glover lives in the village of Milton, Oxfordshire, within his constituency.

He came out as gay aged 15.

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

Trivia

Glover is a keen cyclist.