Rachel Blake is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Cities of London and Westminster, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Blake won 15,302 votes, representing 39.0% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Tim Barnes, received 12,594 votes (32.1%), while the Liberal Democrat candidate, Edward Lucas, secured 4,335 votes (11.1%). Blake was duly elected with a majority of 2,708.

The Cities of London and Westminster includes landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral. The seat, and its predecessors under different names, had been held by the Conservative Party since its creation in 1950 until 2024.

Blake’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Cities of London and Westminster was Nickie Aiken of the Conservative Party.

Political Career

Blake served as economic secretary to the Treasury (city minister) from May to July 2026. Her appointment to this post was part of a targeted reshuffle designed to stabilise Keir Starmer’s position as prime minister after a series of resignations. It came as several ministers 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, Blake’s appointment signalled their support for the prime minister.

Specifically, Blake’s appointment followed the resignation of Wes Streeting as secretary of state for health and social care. She replaced Lucy Rigby as economic secretary to the Treasury, who succeeded James Murray as chief secretary to the Treasury. Murray replaced Streeting as health secretary.

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

Blake 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.”

Blake previously served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (2025-2026).

Blake sat as a member of the House of Commons Treasury committee from October 2024 to October 2025.

In a September 2025 article for the Red Brick blog, Blake said that “fixing the housing crisis has been a key priority for me before and throughout my journey into politics.”

In a June 2025 piece for the House magazine, Blake argued that the government needed to reform planning rules in order to achieve its “transformative goal” of building 1.5 million homes.

Blake is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for anti-corruption and responsible tax and micromobility.

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

In it, Blake said: “I am a proud Londoner, and like many Londoners I was not actually born here; I am delighted to share with you that I was born in Manchester and my family comes from Lancashire. In fact, for most of my childhood I was aware of only one football team – the Bolton Wanderers – but for the last 42 years London has been my home, and the chance to represent my home city is truly a special honour.”

Before entering parliament, Blake served as a Labour councillor on Tower Hamlets London Borough Council from May 2014 until resigning in July 2024 upon her election as MP. On Tower Hamlets Council, Blake served as deputy mayor from 2018 to 2022 and was a cabinet member from July 2015.

Blake has also served as the vice-chair of the Labour Housing Group and secretary of the London Labour Housing Group.

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Blake 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

Living Standards Coalition: Blake is a member of the Living Standards Coalition’s eight-person organising committee. Established in July 2025, the group’s stated aim was to develop and promote policy ideas that directly reduce everyday costs for households, particularly in areas such as food, energy, housing and childcare. In an open letter published upon its founding, addressed to Keir Starmer, the MPs wrote: “Our constituents will ask one question at the next election: did this Labour government make me better off?”

They added: “To raise living standards, we support government interventions that will help to increase incomes and lower costs.”

Upon the group’s launch, Blake told PoliticsHome that the group wanted to help translate the government’s “really strong commitment” on economic growth into tangible change for voters.

She said: “What’s interesting is that when one of my constituents saw the letter, and saw the work that we were doing on this topic, he got in touch to say: ‘I’m so, so happy to see you’re focusing on this; we were talking about this just a few weeks ago on my doorstep’.

“It’s the kind of thing that consistently comes up for us when we’re out speaking to our constituents across what are a whole range of different places.”

Labour Housing: Blake was endorsed by the Labour Housing Group, a long-standing socialist society affiliated with the Labour party, at the 2024 general election. The group advocates a significant expansion of council and social housing, reform of the private rented sector to strengthen tenants’ rights, and tackling homelessness and poor housing conditions.

Get Britain Working Group: Blake 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: Blake also has 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: Blake 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: Blake 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: Blake 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.

Electoral reform

Fair elections APPG: Blake 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.

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Blake 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.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Blake 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

Blake 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): Blake 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 Rachel Nancy Blake in Manchester, she grew up in London. She attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating in 2001.

Blake later studied for a degree in social policy at the London School of Economics.

Early in her career, Blake worked as a policy advisor at the Treasury under Gordon Brown as chancellor from 2005 to 2006.

From 2009 to 2013, Blake was a manager at the East London Housing Partnership.

Personal Life

Blake lives in London. Her partner, Marc Francis, has also served as a Labour councillor.

Trivia

Blake is the first Labour MP to represent the Cities of London and Westminster constituency since its creation in 1950.

Blake joined the Labour Party in 2003.