Tom Collins is the Labour Party MP for Worcester, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Collins won 18,622 votes, representing 40.5% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Marc Bayliss, received 11,506 votes (25.0%), while the Reform UK candidate, Andy Peplow, secured 6,723 votes (14.6%). Collins was duly elected with a majority of 7,116.

The Worcester seat has historically been seen as a bellwether. It was held by Labour 1997-2010, and by the Conservatives 2010-2024.

Collins’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Worcester was Robin Walker of the Conservative Party. Walker, who stood down at the 2024 election, held the seat from 2010 to 2024.

Political Career

Collins currently serves as a member of the parliamentary ecclesiastical committee (since November 2024).

In May 2026, Collins was among the over 100 Labour MPs who signed a joint statement insisting it was “no time for a leadership contest.” The letter was an intervention in the political crisis engulfing Keir Starmer’s premiership, after Labour suffered heavy losses in the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. It was organised as a counterweight to a mounting rebellion that had seen high-profile figures, including some ministers, call for Starmer’s resignation.

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.”

Collins was appointed as a government “business champion” for technology in the West Midlands – a role established in February 2025 to facilitate engagement between the Labour administration and the private sector. The position was part of a network of approximately 40 MPs appointed by the Department for Business and Trade to act as conduits for industry views on government policy. The grouping operated under the oversight of Dan Tomlinson, the national “mission champion” for growth.

The selection of champions was designed to leverage the professional expertise of the 2024 intake of MPs, and the role was seen as an early step on the Westminster ladder. However, the scheme was reportedly scrapped in July 2025 following a meeting at 10 Downing Street. According to a Guido Fawkes report, the business champions were told that their services were no longer required.

Collins is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for family hubs (chair), hydrogen (chair), and human trafficking and modern slavery.

Collins delivered his maiden speech on 31 October 2024 during a debate on the budget.

In it, he said: “As a boy, I remember walking to the shops with my mum and passing our nearest pub. Its name, the lord protector, confused me at the time, and I later learned that I share a home town with one Oliver Cromwell, so perhaps I should feel at home in this place.

“Having said that, I confess that the nearest pub to my first family home was The Cavalier. That is because I represent, and am proud to call my home, the faithful city of Worcester. Famous among historians as the site of both the first and final armed conflicts of the English civil war”.

He added: “It is my belief that releasing innovation by investing in the talent, passion and skills of our emerging leaders, creators and problem solvers is key – key to our mission for growth, which is the guiding light of this budget, and key to decarbonising our economy through industrial renewal, rebuilding our NHS, and putting people at the heart of all we do”

Before entering parliament, Collins served as a Labour councillor on Worcester City Council from 2018 to 2022.

Political views

Electoral reform

Fair elections APPG: Collins 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.

Electoral reform amendment: In May 2026, Collins was one of over 70 Labour MPs who 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.”

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Collins 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): Collins 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

Collins 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 November 2024, Collins told BBC News: “My concern is that at the moment we have a real under-delivery of good quality of palliative care. Some have awful experiences… medically and emotionally. Opening the door in that context could present people with some really bad choices.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Collins 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.

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

Before Politics

Thomas George Howard Collins worked for the Worcester-based company Worcester Bosch.

Collins studied mechanical engineering at Aston University (2000-2003).

In 2017, Collins undertook a post graduate programme at Harvard Business School Executive Education.

Personal Life

Collins lives in Worcester.

Trivia

Collins worked at Worcester Bosch for almost two decades before becoming an MP.