Rachel Taylor is the Labour MP for North Warwickshire and Bedworth, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Taylor won 14,727 votes, representing 36.0% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Craig Tracey, received 12,529 votes (30.6%), while the Reform UK candidate, Paul Hopkins, secured 10,701 votes (26.1%). Taylor was duly elected with a majority of 2,198.

The North Warwickshire and Bedworth constituency was renamed ahead of the 2024 election. The former North Warwickshire seat was represented by Craig Tracey of the Conservative Party from 2015 to 2024. It was last held by the Labour Party from 1992 to 2010.

Political Career

Taylor is a member of the House of Commons women and equalities select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for holding the government to account on equality law and policy, including the Equality Act 2010, as well as cross government activity on equalities. It also scrutinises the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

In May 2026, Taylor was among the group of Labour MPs who publicly called for the prime minister, Keir Starmer, to resign or set out a clear timetable for his departure. The move followed the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru.

In a statement at the time, Taylor said: “I watched the prime minister’s speech this morning with an open mind but I’m afraid I don’t think he spoke clearly enough about the change my constituents need to feel. That is why with a genuinely heavy heart I am calling on Keir Starmer to announce a timetable for his departure.”

In June 2025, Taylor was one of 16 Labour MPs to sign a letter to the foreign secretary, David Lammy, accusing the government of failing to protect the rights of LGBT+ citizens in the British Overseas Territories. The group argued that the absence of legal protections in jurisdictions such as the Turks and Caicos, the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and Montserrat constituted a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

According to a PoliticsHome report, the letter described the government’s “inaction on these injustices is not only a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights but, more importantly, a betrayal of the values Britain has long championed on the world stage.”

It added: “By failing to prevent differential treatment of LGBT+ persons in these jurisdictions, which naturally includes British citizens, the UK has allowed a two-tier system of British LGBT+ rights to emerge, in which the promise of equality and dignity extends only to some, not all, of its citizens and territories.”

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

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

Taylor is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for endometriosis, freight and logistics (chair) and sport and physical activity (chair).

Taylor delivered her maiden speech on 3 September 2024 during a debate on the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill.

In it, she said: “I went to university in Leeds in the mid-1980s, in the midst of the Thatcher government’s attack on working people and the divisive dialogue that made it a frightening time to come out as gay.

“In 1988, this place passed into law section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, banning schools from telling young people that it was okay to be gay, so that a generation of young people were frightened, bullied and held back.

“I played my part in the protests against section 28, and I was proud that the last Labour government did so much to improve rights for our community.”

She added: “I want to assure my constituents and LGBT people across the country that I will work hard to protect the important gains we have made and to tackle the over-simplistic and often hateful discourse that we hear about trans people, just as I campaigned against section 28 almost 40 years ago.”

Before entering parliament, Taylor was elected as a Labour councillor on North Warwickshire Borough Council in May 2023. She resigned as a councillor in 2025.

Political Views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Taylor 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

SERA: Taylor 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”.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Taylor 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

Taylor 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): Taylor 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.

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Taylor 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

Rachel Margaret Taylor was born in Warwickshire.

Taylor studied at the University of Leeds and went on to work as a solicitor

Additionally, she worked as a line judge and umpire in tennis.

In her 2024 maiden speech, Taylor stated: “I worked as a tennis umpire at Wimbledon for 10 years, and I have watched in recent years as grassroots tennis has flourished and become more inclusive, particularly at my local club in Coleshill.

“That is part of the legacy of Sir Andy Murray and the valuable work of the Lawn Tennis Association.”

Personal Life

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

Trivia

In summer 2025, Taylor drove for three days and 1,300 miles from her constituency to Ukraine to deliver aid.