Torcuil Crichton is the Labour Party MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Crichton received 6,692 votes (49.5%). The Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate, Susan Thomson, placed second with 2,856 votes (21.1%), while independent candidate Angus MacNeil received 1,370 votes (10.1%). Crichton was duly elected with a majority of 3,836.

The Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency covers the Outer Hebrides islands of Scotland. Historically, the seat (under its former name Western Isles until 2005) was held by Labour from 1935 to 1970, then by the SNP from 1970 to 1987, then by Labour again from 1987 to 2005.

The SNP regained the seat in 2005. Angus MacNeil was reelected as the SNP MP for the constituency at the 2010, 2015 and 2019 general election. MacNeil was suspended as an SNP MP during the 2019-2024 parliament and stood as an independent in 2024.

Political Career

Crichton is a member of the House of Commons energy security and net zero committee (since October 2024). The committee scrutinises the work of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

Crichton took the oath of allegiance in Scottish Gaelic on a Gaelic bible shortly before assuming his seat in the House of Commons. He also chose to take his oath the “Scottish way” under the Oaths Act 1978, which allows MPs to take the oath in the Scottish manner. They lift their right hand up and do not hold the sacred text.

Crichton is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for genetic haemochromatosis, Isle of Man (Manx), marine energy, media (vice chair), shellfish aquaculture and volunteer rescue services.

Crichton delivered his maiden speech on 26 July 2024 during a debate on making Britain a clean energy superpower.

In it, he said: “The commonest question I am asked in this House, apart from how to pronounce the name of my constituency, is how I manage to travel from Westminster to the Western Isles. Of course, the easy answer is by Tardis, but the honest answer is that here we are a mere hop and a skip away from Glasgow, and then I travel by a small jet – on schedule, hopefully – to Stornoway.”

He added: “Of course, we are connected; we are not in the middle of nowhere but at the heart of the Atlantic. We have the wealth of wind that will deliver the benefit of jobs, growth and energy security for this country in years to come.

“Those Atlantic islands and the western seaboard are what will give GB Energy meaning and reality in that transition from east to west, away from the North sea and away from the myth that we will not be there in another two generations.

“Two generations of my constituents have earned energy security for this country from the North sea, and two generations more will continue as we make that just transition to renewables.”

Political views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Crichton 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

Labour Rural Research Group: Crichton has been listed as a member of the Labour Rural Research Group (LRRG) – a caucus made up of MPs representing Labour’s so-called “rural wall”. Launched in August 2025, the group’s primary aim is to ensure that policy is developed with a clear understanding of the distinct challenges and priorities of rural and semi-rural communities.

The LRRG, chaired by the Suffolk Coastal MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, conducts research and consultations to challenge what it sees as a “rural blind spot” in Whitehall.

Its first report, “Understanding Rural Britain”, surveyed voters on issues from healthcare and the economy to housing and the environment, seeking to build an evidence-based policy platform. The survey found nearly three quarters (74.4%) of respondents believe rural communities had been overlooked over the past 15 years. On the back of the report, Riddell-Carpenter stated that using the labelling rural voters as Nimbys (not in my back yard) was “toxic” and maintained “many people rightly despise the term”.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Crichton 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

Crichton 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).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Crichton 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, Crichton 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

Born in December 1964 on the Isle of Lewis, Crichton grew up in Swordale and attended Knock primary school. He is a native Gaelic speaker.

He studied social science at the University of Glasgow, graduating in 1986.

Before entering parliament, Crichton had an extensive career in journalism, starting at the West Highland Free Press. He then worked for The Herald and Sunday Herald, and spent some 15 years at the Daily Record.

He was the Westminster editor of the Daily Record from 2010 to 2023.

Crichton has also worked as a broadcaster for the BBC, and once made a Gaelic-language documentary about Donald Trump’s mother for the corporation.

Personal Life

Crichton’s brother, Donald, stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate for the equivalent Scottish Parliament seat in 2011.

Trivia

Crichton is reportedly fluent in Gaelic.