Tracy Gilbert | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forEdinburgh North and Leith | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Deidre Brock |
| Majority | 7,268 (14.7%) |
| Personal details | |
| Citizenship | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Residence(s) | Edinburgh, Scotland |
Tracy Gilbert is aScottish Labour Party politician who has beenMember of Parliament forEdinburgh North & Leith since2024.[1] She currently resides inLeith.
Gilbert grew up in a mining town inMidlothian during the 1980s, and has spoken about how this has shaped her politics.[2]
Before entering Parliament, Gilbert was a Housing Officer and the Scottish Regional Secretary of theUSDAW trade union.[2]
At the2024 general election, Gilbert was elected for the Edinburgh North & Leith constituency, becoming the first Labour MP to win the seat since 2010. Her result was part of a 'red wave' in Scotland, as theScottish Labour Party won 37 seats, up from one seat in 2019.[3]
Following a ballot on 5 September 2024, the MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, Tracy Gilbert (Labour) introduced the Private Members’ Bill titled Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Bill in the 2024–25 Parliament. The Bill proposed that voters in Scotland and Wales — for devolved elections (local government, the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd) — should be able to apply online for their postal (and proxy) votes, aligning the process with that available for reserved UK elections. It completed passage through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, thereby becoming the Absent Voting (Elections in Scotland and Wales) Act 2025.[1]
Gilbert is actively involved in several APPGs, including:
Tracy Gilbert serves as aVice-Chair of theAll-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Commercial Sexual Exploitation (1) The cross-party group brings together Members of Parliament, peers, experts, and campaigners to address all forms of commercial sexual exploitation, including prostitution, sex trafficking, and the online facilitation of such activities.
As part of her role, Gilbert supports the group’s efforts to shape policy discussions, raise awareness, and promote legislative measures aimed at protecting victims and holding perpetrators to account.
Floating Offshore Wind APPG (2): As Chair and Registered Contact, Gilbert leads this group, which aims to raise awareness of the opportunities presented by floating offshore wind in the UK and to increase parliamentarians' knowledge of the sector.[2]
Tracy Gilbert serves as a member of the International Development Committee, a select committee of the House of Commons responsible for scrutinising the expenditure, administration, and policy of the international aid functions of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, as well as public bodies working with the Office on international aid and official development assistance.[4]
Gilbert has campaigned for the implementation of theNordic model approach to prostitution of sex work. In a Westminster Hall debate on 10 June 2025 titled “Prostitution and Sex Trafficking: Demand,” she delivered a speech criticising prostitution.[5]
Gilbert is also a member of the All‑Party Parliamentary Group on Commercial Sexual Exploitation, where she works with colleagues to develop public policy that supports victims and addresses demand.[5]
At Labour's 2024 Autumn conference, Gilbert called for party members to lobby MPs against her party's plans to criminaliseconversion therapy, which will ban practices aimed at changing or suppressing someone's gender identity or sexual orientation. Speaking at a fringe event organised by thegender critical Labour Women's Declaration group, she said her party's proposals were flawed, that many parliamentarians would be unaware of the pitfalls of the proposals and they would need educated through persuasive conversations.[6]
In 2024, Gilbert voted in favour of anassisted dying bill at second reading.[7]
Gilbert is openly LGBT+,[8] but has argued againstGender self-identification for transgender people in a parliamentary debate about the topic.[9]
