James Murray | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |||||||||||||
| Chief Secretary to the Treasury | |||||||||||||
| Assumed office 1 September 2025 | |||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Darren Jones | ||||||||||||
| Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury | |||||||||||||
| In office 9 July 2024 – 1 September 2025 | |||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Gareth Davies | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Dan Tomlinson | ||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forEaling North | |||||||||||||
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stephen Pound | ||||||||||||
| Majority | 12,489 (28.9%) | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development | |||||||||||||
| In office 14 April 2016 – 16 October 2019 | |||||||||||||
| Mayor | Sadiq Khan | ||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Rick Blakeway | ||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Tom Copley | ||||||||||||
| Member ofIslington Council forBarnsbury | |||||||||||||
| In office 6 May 2006 – 26 May 2016 | |||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Rowena Champion | ||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||
| Born | James Stewart Murray (1983-07-13)13 July 1983 (age 42) Hammersmith,London, England | ||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour Co-op | ||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | West Ealing, London, England | ||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Wadham College, Oxford (BA) | ||||||||||||
| Website | jamesmurray | ||||||||||||
James Stewart Murray (born 13 July 1983) is a BritishLabour and Co-operative politician who has served asMember of Parliament (MP) forEaling North since2019. He has served asChief Secretary to the Treasury since 1 September 2025, having previously served asExchequer Secretary to the Treasury from July 2024 until September 2025. He served asDeputy Mayor of London for Housing from 2016 to 2019.
James Murray was born on 13 July 1983 inHammersmith. His mother Lynne was aLabour councillor for Cleveland ward inEaling from 2014 to 2018.[1] His grandmother was an active Labour supporter.[2] He grew up in West Ealing, attendingSt Paul’s School, before studyingPPE atWadham College, Oxford.[3][4][5] Murray graduated with a BA First Class degree in 2004.[6]
Murray served as a councillor inIslington from 2006 to 2016,[7] representingBarnsbury ward. He was the borough's Executive Member for Housing and Development from 2010 to 2016.[6] In this role,Inside Housing reported that he "proved himself to be a tough negotiator who knows what he wants".[8]
He advisedSadiq Khan during his successful selection and election campaigns to becomeMayor of London,[9] and was appointed by Khan as London's Deputy Mayor for Housing in 2016.[9]
As Deputy Mayor, Murray championed a new 'fast track' approach to affordable housing requirements for development in London.[10] The new approach encouraged developers to offer more affordable homes upfront in exchange for dropping complex viability negotiations.[11] It boosted affordable housing provision and won backing from many in the property industry for speeding up the process.[12][13]
Murray also oversaw the Mayor's £4.8bn affordable homes investment programme. He developed the first-everCity Hall initiative dedicated to building council homes, Building Council Homes for Londoners,[9] which raised council homebuilding to its highest level in 34 years.[14]
Murray has been partly blamed for the huge decrease in brownfield developments in London with the introduction of Late Stage Reviews. These have the effect of having a 80% tax on profits above what local authorities agree are 'acceptable'.[15]
At the2019 general election, Murray was elected to Parliament as MP forEaling North with 56.5% of the vote and a majority of 12,269.[16][17] He gave his maiden speech in January 2020.[18] He became a member of the Health and Social Care Committee in March 2020[19] and was appointed to the Opposition Whips' Office in April 2020.[20]
On 16 October 2020, he was appointedShadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, following the resignation ofDan Carden the previous day.
AsShadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, he led for the Opposition on legislation including several finance bills, and bills affecting stamp duty and National Insurance Contributions.[21][non-primary source needed]
Murray was re-elected as MP for Ealing North at the2024 general election with a decreased vote share of 47.8% and an increased majority of 12,489.[22] Prime MinisterSir Keir Starmer appointed MurrayExchequer Secretary to the Treasury in hiscabinet in the early days of his premiership. In the2025 British cabinet reshuffle, Murray replacedDarren Jones asChief Secretary to the Treasury.[23] He was subsequently appointed to thePrivy Council.[24]
Murray lives in West Ealing with his husband Tom Griffiths.[6] In the late 2000s, Murray was diagnosed withMyasthenia gravis. He received treatment at theNational Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, and is now symptom-free.[18][25]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEaling North 2019–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Chief Secretary to the Treasury 2025–present | Incumbent |
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