Tom Rutland is the Labour MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Rutland won 22,120 votes, representing 45.1% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Leila Williams, received 12,601 votes (25.7%), while the Reform UK candidate, Lionel Harman, secured 7,169 votes (14.6%). Rutland was duly elected with a majority of 9,519.  

The East Worthing and Shoreham constituency is located in West Sussex, South East England. The constituency was represented by the Conservative Party from its creation in 1997 to 2024.

Political Career

Rutland served as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS) in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from September 2025 to May 2026. A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant, providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs.

In May 2026, Rutland resigned as a PPS and called for Keir Starmer to step down as prime minister. The move followed the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. In resigning, Rutland joined a rebellion of around 100 Labour MPs calling for Starmer’s departure.

In a statement at the time, Rutland called on Starmer to “set out a timetable for his departure”.

He said: “It is clear to me that the prime minister has lost authority not just within the parliamentary Labour Party but across the country and that he will not be able to regain it. That significantly impedes the ability of the government to deliver the change that people voted for at the general election – change that we must deliver.

“We also have a generational responsibility to stop Reform’s hatred and division from taking over our great country. It weighs heavily on me and all of us must do all we can to prevent this from happening. I do not have faith that the prime minister can meet this challenge.”

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

Rutland has sat as a member of the House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee (2024-2025).

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

Rutland delivered his maiden speech on 28 October 2024 during a debate on remembrance and veterans.

In it, he said: “I think everyone in this place had that moment when they switched on to politics and realised the difference that it could make. For me, it was realising as a teenager that I was gay, and feeling as though I would not achieve everything I could or should because of who I was. It was the worst feeling in the world; I have never forgotten it.”

He added: “I do not want any child to feel that way, whether because of the colour of their skin or their religion; because they are a boy, or a girl, or have a disability; or because of who they love or how much their parents earn.

“That drive is what has led me to spend my career campaigning, from standing up for consumers to fighting for working people as a trade union official.”

Before entering parliament, Rutland served as a Labour councillor on Lambeth London Borough Council (2022-2024).

Political views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Rutland 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

Get Britain Working Group: Rutland 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.”

Labour Growth Group: Rutland 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.”

Trade Union Group: Rutland is a member of the Trade Union Group of Labour MPs executive. This long-standing group, founded in 1926, serves as a link between the Labour party and the trade union movement, aiming to ensure that the voices of working people and their unions are represented in parliament.

Living Standards Coalition: Rutland is a member of the Living Standards Coalition. 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.”

SERA: Rutland 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: Rutland 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”.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Rutland 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

Rutland 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).

Before Politics

Thomas William Rutland was born in February 1992. He attended The Skinners’ School.

Rutland studied philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at Jesus College, Oxford, graduating in 2013. He was junior common room (JCR) president at Jesus College from 2011 to 2012 and president of the Oxford University Student Union (OUSU) from 2013 to 2014.  

Rutland went on to work as a researcher for Labour peer Lord Adonis and as campaign office manager for Tessa Jowell’s unsuccessful 2015 London mayoral campaign.

Rutland subsequently held roles at Deloitte and Imperial College London.

He held press and public affairs roles at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prospect Union.

Personal Life

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

Trivia

Rutland served as president of the Oxford University Student Union from 2013 to 2014.