Peter Kyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Business and Trade President of the Board of Trade | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 September 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jonathan Reynolds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 July 2024 – 5 September 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Michelle Donelan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Liz Kendall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forHove and Portslade Hove (2015–2024) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Mike Weatherley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Majority | 19,881 (38.1%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | Peter John Kyle (1970-09-09)9 September 1970 (age 55) West Sussex, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Felpham Comprehensive School[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Sussex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Academic background | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thesis | Building capacity for community economic development: the case of the Kat river valley, South Africa (2004) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Peter John Kyle (born 9 September 1970) is a British politician who has served asSecretary of State for Business and Trade andPresident of the Board of Trade since September 2025. He previously served asSecretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology from July 2024 to September 2025. A member of theLabour Party, he has been theMember of Parliament (MP) forHove and Portslade, formerly Hove, since2015.
Born inWest Sussex, Kyle studied atFelpham Comprehensive School. He studiedGeography,International Development, andEnvironmental Studies at theUniversity of Sussex, and later earned a doctorate inCommunity Development. After university, he worked as anaid worker forChildren on the Edge inEastern Europe and theBalkans. In 2006, he became aCabinet Officespecial adviser where he focused onsocial exclusion policy. At the2015 general election, Kyle was elected to Parliament as MP forHove. He was reelected in the2017 and2019 general elections. Kyle joined theshadow frontbench under leaderKeir Starmer as Shadow Minister for Victims and Youth Justice in April 2020. He was appointed the Shadow Minister for Schools in May 2021.
Kyle was promoted to theshadow cabinet asShadow Northern Ireland Secretary inNovember 2021. In the2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, he was appointedShadow Science Secretary. Following the2024 general election and subsequent formation of theStarmer ministry, Kyle was appointed to theCabinet as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology. As Science Secretary, he oversaw the implementation of theOnline Safety Act. In the2025 cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade.
Peter Kyle was born on 9 September 1970 and grew up inWest Sussex, where he was educated at Felpham Comprehensive School (nowFelpham Community College), nearBognor Regis.[1] It was at school that he found out he haddyslexia and left school, in his own words, "without any usable qualifications".[1]
By the age of 25, he was accepted on his third attempt to become a student at theUniversity of Sussex, where he gained a degree in geography, international development, and environmental studies, and later a doctorate incommunity development.[1]
After university, Kyle worked as anaid worker and as a project director for the charityChildren on the Edge inEastern Europe and theBalkans helping young people whose lives had been affected by the political instability created by theBosnian War andKosovan War, helping to establish anorphanage inRomania.[2][3][4]
In 2006, Kyle became aCabinet Officespecial adviser focusing onsocial exclusion policy.[3]
From 2007 to 2013, he was deputy chief executive of theAssociation of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO). In 2013, he became chief executive of Working for Youth, a newly formed charity focusing on helping unemployed youth.[5]
At the2015 general election, Kyle was elected to Parliament as MP forHove with 42.3% of the vote and a majority of 1,236.[6][7][8]
Kyle backedLiz Kendall in the2015 Labour leadership election,[9] and supportedOwen Smith in the failed attempt to replaceJeremy Corbyn in the2016 Labour leadership election.[10]
In December 2015, Kyle voted in favour of the United Kingdom carrying out targeted air strikes againstIslamic State inSyria.[11][12] He was subsequently the subject of harassment and intimidation byanti-war activists who sent him a picture of a dead baby. In response he said, "People have put deep thought and a lot of anguish into this decision and are taking a very principled stance. We need to have respect for each other's views on this".[13][14]
Kyle sat on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee between 2016 and 2020. In May 2016, he questionedMike Ashley, boss ofSports Direct, over poor working practices in his warehouses. Ashley accused Kyle of making "defamatory comments" against him and called for the MP to stand down from the committee.[15]
Hecampaigned for remaining in theEuropean Union during the2016 Brexit referendum.[16] In 2018, he rebelled against theConservative government and the Labour Partywhip in order to vote in favour of an amendment which would have kept the United Kingdom in theEuropean Economic Area (EEA) in the event of the country leaving the European Union.[17]
Kyle has championedapprenticeships, pledging in August 2016 to create 1,000 apprenticeships in 1,000 days in co-operation with the council and via the creation of a Greater Brighton Employer Skills Task Force.[18][19]
Kyle was re-elected as MP for Hove at the snap2017 general election with an increased vote share of 64.1% and an increased majority of 18,757.[20][21]
In May 2018 Kyle called for the voting age to be lowered to 16 and put forward his own bill to this effect.[22] The bill failed to pass after the Conservative Party employed a filibuster to prevent a vote on the bill being held in the House of Commons.[23][24]
In March 2019, alongside fellow Labour MPPhil Wilson, Kyle put forward an amendment toTheresa May's Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.[25] Dubbed the "Kyle-Wilson" amendment, it aimed to pass the Withdrawal Agreement Bill on the condition that the deal on offer would go back to the British people through a confirmatory vote.[26] Whilst failing to pass twice in the House of Commons, it came 12 votes short on its second attempt.[27] Both Kyle and Wilson signalled that they would bring back the amendment ifBoris Johnson were to return with a Brexit deal in October 2019.[28] Alongside deputy leader of the Labour PartyTom Watson, Kyle advocated for this position to become Labour policy.[29][30][31]
A vocal critic of Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour party, in a 2019 meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Kyle challenged 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."[32] He also signed an open letter to theJewish Labour Movement pledging to stamp out antisemitism in the Labour Party, and "urges members of the group not to leave the party and apologises for letting its Jewish supporters down."[33] In 2014 Kyle attended a party delegation toIsrael and thePalestinian Territories along withDame Tessa Jowell and others party figures.[34]
At the2019 general election, Kyle was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 58.3% and a decreased majority of 17,044.[35][36][37]
Following Labour's defeat in the2019 general election, Kyle urged Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn to resign, saying that the loss was not related to Labour's position on Brexit but rather to "dissatisfaction with our leadership and seeming incompetence".[38] He endorsedJess Phillips in the2020 Labour Party leadership election.[39]
In April 2020, he became the shadow minister for victims and youth justice.[40] He has campaigned on the issue of 'sex for rent' and demanded a change to the law for landlords who engage in sexual exploitation of tenants.[41]
In February 2021,[42] Kyle presented abill for victims to Parliament which had the aims of:
In a minorLabour reshuffle in May 2021, Kyle was promoted to succeedWes Streeting as the Shadow Minister for Schools.[45]
He was appointedShadow Northern Ireland Secretary in theNovember 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle.[46] In September 2022, he spoke in favour of Labour acceptingBrexit and presenting a "positive vision for a better Britain" outside of theEuropean Union.[47]
Peter Kyle was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology in September 2023.
In October 2023 at theLabour Party Conference, Kyle said that a future Labour government would reduce regulations on technology companies in the development and use ofArtificial Intelligence and "put it to work for everyone from every background."[48] This led to some resistance bytrade unions over concerns aboutintellectual property and the risk of "rampantprofiteering".[48]
Kyle condemned the HamasOctober 7 attacks in Israel. On 23 November 2023, he attended and spoke at the March Against Antisemitism inLondon along withChief RabbiEphraim Mirvis and Conservative MPRobert Jenrick.[49] In December he said that "This is something we must never forget. The Hamasterror attack was done in order to stop processes leading topeaceful existence, not to deliver one. They have sought to wreck any chance of peace. That can't be allowed to happen".[50]
In November 2023, Kyle outlined Labour policies to impose stricter regulations on general artificial intelligence research companies such asOpenAI andAnthropic with stronger requirements for reporting, data-sharing, and user safety.[51] Kyle has also proposed the creation of a 'Regulatory Innovation office', which would expedite important regulatory decisions, the use of 10-year research and development budget settlement, in order to ensure stable long-term private investment, and a new body called 'Skills England', which would bring together "representatives oftertiary education, local and central government with representatives from business leaders and trade unions. In addition to strategic oversight of skills needs across England, the new body will also be responsible for assessing bids forcolleges to become 'Technical Excellence Colleges'."[52]
In February 2024, Kyle announced that Labour would scrap the existing voluntary testing agreement between technology companies and the British government, instead creating astatutory regime in which Artificial Intelligence businesses would be required to share with the government the results of theirtest data.[53] He claimed that this would enable the government to better understand the risks involved in AI and the challenges it could pose to different industries and society in general. He also met with representatives of theUnited States government and AI companies inWashington, United States, includingMicrosoft,Amazon,Meta,Google,Apple,OpenAI, andAnthropic.[54]
Peter Kyle endorsed the use of artificial intelligence technology to improvepublic services, including in theNational Health Service andBritish education system.[55] He also said that "I have seen AI tools which I believe would have caught my mum's cancer earlier. It is personal for me to get this technology used in a way which keeps families together for longer. UK businesses can benefit hugely from the innovation this latest wave of technology can bring."[55]
.jpg)
Due to the2023 review of Westminster constituencies, Kyle's constituency of Hove was renamedHove and Portslade. At the2024 general election, Kyle was elected to Parliament as MP for Hove and Portslade with 52.4% of the vote and a majority of 19,881.[56]
Following the Labour Party's victory in the2024 general election, he was appointed to cabinet as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology at the subsequent formation of theStarmer ministry.[57]
The secretary of state for science, innovation and technology was responsible for the implementation of theOnline Safety Act 2023, introduced by the previous government.[58][59]
In July 2025, following public criticism of the partly implemented act and anonline petition on the officialUK Parliament petitions website calling for its repeal which received over half a million signatures,[60] Kyle responded to comments made byReform UK leaderNigel Farage by stating that Farage was "on the side of sex offenders likeJimmy Savile". When Farage requested an apology, Kyle reiterated his position and stated that, "If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that."[61] This stance was widely derided online,[62] and received criticism from U.S. politicians and technology entrepreneurs.[63][60]
TheU.S. Department of StateHuman Rights Practices report criticised the Online Safety Act as a hazard to the Freedom of the Press because it pressed U.S. social media platforms to "censor speech deemed misinformation or ‘hate speech’". Kyle defended the act saying it is a vital safeguard for children online.[64][65]
In the2025 cabinet reshuffle, Kyle was appointedSecretary of State for Business and Trade andPresident of the Board of Trade, succeedingJonathan Reynolds.[66]
When was asked ifPeter Mandelson's appointment asUK ambassador to the United States was a mistake following controversy surrounding Mandelson's ties to sex offenderJeffrey Epstein, Kyle said: "They [Virginia Giuffre's family] say it was a mistake. And retrospectively, if we had known the information that we know now, it is highly unlikely that he would have been appointed because what we know now is materially different to what we understood at the time."[67]
In September 2020, Kyle was appointed a vice-chair ofLabour Friends of Israel.[68]
In 2025 Kyle and his Director of Operations Chris Henry had a 54 year old woman arrested for harassment after she sent an email to Kyle and other MP's criticising the government's actions during Israel's war on Palestine. The police report states: "The emails are anti-Israeli in nature, making use well known anti-Semitic tropes, cheering Israeli loss of life and appearing to joke about the state of ISRAEL being destroyed / burned."
When MP Chris Williamson planned an speak about monetary policy in Brighton, Kyle and the Sussex Jewish Representative Council pressured three venues into cancelling the event. This was due to Williamson's statement that the Labour Party had “given too much ground” to people alleging widespread anti-semitism in the Labour Party.[69] Kyle released a statement saying "our city should not be a welcoming place for people who bait the Jewish community or sow seeds of division."[70]
From 2016 to 2017 Kyle was chair of governors ofBrighton Aldridge Community Academy.[71][72]
He is a member of theFabian Society.[73]
For eight years he was in a relationship withCzech-born Vlastimil Tiser, until Tiser's death in 2012.[74] His mother died of cancer six days later.[75] He said in an interview withThe Times that "2012, the year of the Olympics, one of the best years for many people, was the worst year of my life. [...] I was on autopilot. There was constant adrenaline. Then afterwards, silence."[74]
Kyle was sworn of thePrivy Council on 10 July 2024, entitling him to be styled "The Right Honourable" for life.[76]
{{cite news}}:|last2= has generic name (help)
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHove 2015–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology 2024–2025 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Business and Trade 2025–present | Incumbent |
| Cabinet members | .svg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Also attending meetings | ||
| Minister for Science | | |
|---|---|---|
| Secretary of State for Education and Science | ||
| Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills | ||
| Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology | ||
