Peter Kyle is the Labour MP for Hove and Portslade, first elected to the predecessor seat of Hove at the 2015 general election.  

In the 2024 general election, Kyle received 27,209 votes in the Hove and Portslade constituency, representing 52.4% of the vote share. The Green Party candidate, Sophie Broadbent, received 7,418 votes (14.3%), while the Conservative candidate, Carline Deal, secured 6,630 votes (12.8%). Kyle was duly elected with a majority of 19,791. 

The Hove and Portslade constituency is located on the West Sussex coast, encompassing the western areas of the city of Brighton and Hove, including Hove itself, Portslade, and Aldrington.

Historically, the seat was held by the Conservative Party from 1950 until 1997. Labour held it between 1997 and 2010, after which the Conservatives regained it for one term (2010-2015) with Mike Weatherley as MP. Kyle gained the seat for Labour in 2015 and has held it since, increasing the party’s majority significantly in subsequent elections.  

Political Career

Kyle served as secretary of state for business and trade and president of the Board of Trade from September 2025 to July 2026. He served as secretary of state for science, innovation and technology from July 2024 to September 2025.

Kyle left government as part of the July 2026 cabinet reshuffle conducted by Andy Burnham upon his appointment as prime minister.

Kyle held several senior shadow cabinet positions during Labour’s tenure in opposition. He was the shadow secretary of state for science, innovation and technology from September 2023 until July 2024.

Before that, he served as shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland (November 2021 – September 2023), shadow minister for schools (May 2021 – November 2021), and shadow minister for victims and youth justice (April 2020 – May 2021).

During the intense parliamentary drama over Brexit in March 2019, Kyle, alongside fellow Labour MP Phil Wilson, put forward a notable amendment. The Kyle-Wilson amendment proposed that the House of Commons would approve the agreement only on the condition that it was put to the public for a confirmatory referendum. It didn’t pass, but only by 12 votes.

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

Kyle was a member of the House of Commons business, energy and industrial strategy/business and trade select committee from July 2015 to May 2020.

Kyle delivered his maiden speech on 3 June 2015, during a debate on devolution and growth across Britain.

In it, he said: “Our city has been voted the best place to live, the happiest place to live and the coolest place in Brighton – in Britain. However, we do have a problem with immigration – that is, people flocking from London, buying our property and clogging up our commuter trains.”

He added: “There is an aspect of my family life that is also central to my political outlook, and that is the path taken by my father, Les Kyle. He grew up in post-war Liverpool, in conditions of poverty thankfully not seen any more in this country. He left school at 16 and served in the Royal Navy. After he left the service, he took several jobs, including door-to-door salesman.

“He wanted to better himself and his future family and that meant working during the day and learning at night. When opportunities arose, he took them, like taking a job for a market-leading fibreglass company in Portsmouth. By the time he retired, he was the owner of that company.”

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour leadership 2020: Kyle was one of 21 Labour MPs who nominated Jess Phillips for the party’s leadership in early 2020. The election was triggered by the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn following the party’s defeat in the 2019 general election, which resulted in Labour’s fewest seats in the House of Commons since 1935.

Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, had been a prominent critic of Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party. She withdrew from the contest on 21 January 2020, suggesting that she could not “unite all parts of our movement”.

Labour leadership 2015: Kyle was one of 41 Labour MPs who nominated Liz Kendall for the party’s leadership in June 2015. The election followed the resignation of Ed Miliband after the party’s defeat in the 2015 general election. It was the first contest held under the “one member, one vote” system, which replaced the previous electoral college.

Kendall, the shadow minister for care and older people, was viewed as the “Blairite” candidate in the race. She secured 41 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), exceeding the 35 required to reach the final ballot. She ultimately finished fourth in the contest with 4.5% of the vote.

In March 2016, Kyle was labelled as “neutral but not hostile” by the Corbyn leadership in a leaked list which categorised Labour MPs by their perceived loyalty.

Labour leadership 2016: Kyle supported Angela Eagle for the party’s leadership in July 2016. The election was triggered by a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn following the EU referendum, which led to a wave of shadow cabinet resignations and a vote of no confidence supported by 172 MPs.

Eagle, the former shadow first secretary of state, was the first to formally launch a challenge against Corbyn. However, she withdrew from the race on 19 July after attracting fewer nominations than Owen Smith. Kyle subsequently shifted his support to Smith.

Corbyn was ultimately re-elected with an increased mandate of 61.8% of the vote.

Labour leadership 2016: Kyle supported Owen Smith for the party’s leadership in July 2016. The election was triggered by a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn following the EU referendum, which led to a wave of shadow cabinet resignations and a vote of no confidence supported by 172 MPs. Smith, the former shadow work and pensions secretary, was ultimately defeated by Corbyn, who won with an increased mandate of 61.8% of the vote.

During a 2019 Parliamentary Labour Party meeting, Kyle reportedly reeled off a list of antisemitic incidents in his Hove constituency. He then asked Corbyn “to consider what it is about his world view – separate from a political platform – that has attracted these people into our party in the first place.”

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Kyle supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore agreed with a majority of constituents, 67.1% of whom also voted to Remain.

Article 50: In February 2017, Kyle voted against the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The legislation empowered the prime minister to notify the Council of the European Union of the UK’s intention to withdraw, formally triggering the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. MPs supported the bill by 498 votes to 114 at second reading. In voting against the bill, Kyle defied the party whip – one of 47 Labour MPs to do so.

People’s vote support (2019): Kyle signed a January 2019 statement by Labour MPs calling for a “people’s vote” or second referendum. The statement, signed by 71 Labour MPs, read: “Defeat of the Tory [Brexit] deal in a public vote would give us all a chance to campaign for the anti-austerity policies and a Labour government that deals with the true causes of the Brexit vote, and a reformed Europe that works for all people.”

Remain pledge: During the 2019 general election campaign, Kyle was one of 193 Labour candidates to sign the anti-Brexit “Remain pledge”, drawn up by the campaign group Remain Labour.

It stated: “Labour is committed to a confirmatory referendum, to give you the final say on Brexit. If elected as your Labour MP, I pledge to campaign to Remain in the EU.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Kyle 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

Kyle 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): Kyle 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.

Foreign policy and security

Trident renewal (2016): Kyle voted in favour of a government motion calling for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system in July 2016. The motion, which was passed by 472 votes to 117, committed the UK to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the nation’s nuclear weapons. Labour was split over the issue with 140 of its 230 MPs going against leader Jeremy Corbyn and backing the motion.

Syria airstrikes (2015): Kyle voted in favour of a government motion to extend UK airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria in December 2015. The motion, which was passed by 397 votes to 223 after a 10-hour debate in the House of Commons, authorised the RAF to conduct strikes against Isis targets in Syria.

Sanctioned (Russia): In April 2022, Kyle was among the group of MPs placed on a sanctions list by the Russian government. The measure barred them from entering Russia and was presented by Moscow as a retaliatory response to the UK’s stance on the invasion of Ukraine.

Before Politics

Born on 9 September 1970 in West Sussex, Kyle grew up in the area and attended Felpham Comprehensive School. He has spoken about his struggles with severe dyslexia during his school years, leaving without significant qualifications.  

At the age of 25, Kyle returned to education and attended the University of Sussex. He earned a BA degree in geography, international development and environmental studies, followed by a PhD in community economic development, completing his thesis in 2004 on capacity building in South Africa’s Kat River Valley.  

His professional background is primarily in the third sector and public policy. Kyle worked as an aid worker for the charity Children on the Edge in Eastern Europe and the Balkans following the regional conflicts, where he helped establish an orphanage in Romania.  

In 2006, Kyle worked as a special adviser in the Cabinet Office, focusing on social exclusion policy. From 2007 to 2013, he was deputy chief executive of ACEVO (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations).

Immediately prior to entering parliament, he was appointed chief executive of Working for Youth, a charity focused on youth unemployment.

Personal Life

In 2024, PinkNews listed Kyle among a number of out LGBTQ+ parliamentarians. He has discussed the complexities of coming out to his parents.

Kyle has also spoken about the death of his partner of eight years, Vlastimil Tiser, in 2012, and the subsequent death of his mother six days later.