Tracy Gilbert is the Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Gilbert received 20,805 votes (42.1%). The Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate, Deidre Brock, received 13,537 votes (27.4%), while the Scottish Green Party candidate, Kayleigh O’Neill, secured 5,417 votes (10.9%). Gilbert was elected with a majority of 7,268 votes.

The Edinburgh North and Leith constituency was created in 1997. It was held by the Labour Party from 1997 to 2015, and then by the SNP from 2015.

Gilbert’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Edinburgh North and Leith was Deidre Brock of the SNP. Brock held the seat from 2015 to 2024.

Political Career

Gilbert is a member of the House of Commons procedure committee (since November 2024) – the committee responsible for considering the practice and procedure of the House in the conduct of its public business. It can make recommendations to the House about the operation of the House’s Standing Orders for public business.

Gilbert is also a member of the House of Commons international development select committee (since March 2025) – the committee responsible for scrutinising the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in respect of aid policy.

Gilbert introduced the Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Act 2025 as a private member’s bill in October 2024. It came after Gilbert was selected in the PMB ballot at the start of the 2024-2026 parliamentary session. The act seeks to make it easier for voters in Scotland and Wales to apply for a postal or proxy vote in devolved elections, allowing them to do so online. Previously, voters applied for postal or proxy votes using physical forms.

Gilbert is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for United Nations global goals (chair) and commercial sexual exploitation.

Gilbert delivered her maiden speech on 11 September 2024 in a debate on building safety and regulation.

In it, she said: “When we lived in West Pilton, our flat was riddled with damp. We had to run a dehumidifier constantly, and it would produce litres of water daily. Our children’s health suffered, and painting over black mould was normal.

“We were lucky: we were eventually able to move. However, the flat is still there, and I would suggest that the issues remain too. Housing resilience must be a priority when building and retrofitting homes.”

She added: “As a child growing up in the ’80s in a council house in a mining town, with hindsight it seems inevitable that I would end up as a proud product of the Labour and trade union movement.

“In my working life – from a youth training scheme in the city council to being a housing officer and trade unionist, as well as through my voluntary work on the Children’s Panel, in drug and alcohol and mental health – advocacy has always been my passion.

“I have learned through life that when others give up on you, it is easy to give up on yourself. My promise to everyone in Edinburgh North and Leith is that I will not give up”.

Before entering parliament, Gilbert worked in the trade union movement. She joined the shopworkers’ union Usdaw as an organiser in 2000, becoming deputy regional secretary for Scotland in 2017 and regional secretary for Scotland in 2021.

Political Views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Gilbert 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

Usdaw: Gilbert is a member of the Usdaw Union Parliamentary Group – a group of MPs who are members of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) and work generally to represent the union’s interests within parliament.

Living Standards Coalition: Gilbert 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.”

Electoral reform

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Gilbert 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 ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Gilbert was one of the over 120 Labour MPs to sign the reasoned amendment to the government’s flagship welfare bill which aimed to reject the proposed legislation.

The amendment, in the name of senior Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, objected to the fact that the bill had not been subject to a “formal consultation with disabled people” and that “250,000 people will be pushed into poverty” as a result of it, according to a government impact assessment.

The motion also called on the government to wait for the publication of the review into the Personal Independence Payment (Pip), helmed by minister Sir Stephen Timms, and the independent review, conducted by Sir Charlie Mayfield, into how the employment of disabled people could be boosted.

Welfare vote (July 2025): Gilbert went on to vote against the 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

Gilbert 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): Gilbert 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, Gilbert 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

Gilbert grew up in Midlothian during the 1980s.

She left school before turning 16 and initially worked for Edinburgh City Council under its youth training scheme, progressing to become a housing benefits officer.

Personal Life

Gilbert lives in her Edinburgh North and Leith constituency.

In her 2024 maiden speech, Gilbert referred to her wife, Melanie, and her step children David and Zoe.

Trivia

Gilbert has been active in the Labour party since 1997.