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James Murray (London politician)

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James Murray
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 July 2024
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byGareth Davies
Member of Parliament
for Ealing North
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byStephen Pound
Majority12,489 (28.9%)
Shadow portfolios
2020–2024Financial Secretary
2020–2020Whip
Deputy Mayor of London
for Housing and Residential Development
In office
14 April 2016 – 16 October 2019
MayorSadiq Khan
Preceded byRick Blakeway
Succeeded byTom Copley
Member of Islington Council
for Barnsbury
In office
6 May 2006 – 26 May 2016
Succeeded byRowena Champion
Personal details
Born
James Stewart Murray

(1983-07-13) 13 July 1983 (age 41)
Hammersmith, London, England
Political partyLabour Co-op
Residence(s)West Ealing, London, England
Alma materWadham College, Oxford (BA)
Websitejamesmurray.org
Official portrait, 2024

James Stewart Murray (born 13 July 1983) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ealing North since 2019. He has served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury since 9 July 2024. He was Deputy Mayor of London for Housing from 2016 to 2019.

Early life and education

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James Murray was born on 13 July 1983 in Hammersmith. His mother Lynne was a Labour councillor for Cleveland ward in Ealing from 2014 to 2018.[1] He grew up in West Ealing, attending a private school, before studying PPE at Wadham College, Oxford.[2][3][4] Murray graduated with a BA First Class degree in 2004.[5]

Political career

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Murray served as a councillor in Islington from 2006 to 2016,[6] representing Barnsbury ward.[7] He was the borough's Executive Member for Housing and Development from 2010 to 2016.[5] In this role, Inside Housing reported that he "proved himself to be a tough negotiator who knows what he wants".[8]

He advised Sadiq Khan during his successful selection and election campaigns to become Mayor 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-ever City 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]

Parliamentary career

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At the 2019 general election, Murray was elected to Parliament as MP for Ealing North with 56.5% of the vote and a majority of 12,269.[15][16] He gave his maiden speech in January 2020.[17] He became a member of the Health and Social Care Committee in March 2020[18] and was appointed to the Opposition Whips' Office in April 2020.[19]

On 16 October 2020, he was appointed Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, following the resignation of Dan Carden the previous day relating the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill.

As Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, he has led for the Opposition on legislation including several finance bills, and bills affecting stamp duty and National Insurance Contributions.[20]

Murray was re-elected as MP for Ealing North at the 2024 general election with a decreased vote share of 47.8% and an increased majority of 12,489.[21] Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer appointed Murray Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in his cabinet in the early days of his premiership.

Personal life

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Murray lives in West Ealing with his husband Tom Griffiths.[5] In the late 2000s, Murray was diagnosed with Myasthenia gravis. He received treatment at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, and is now symptom-free.[17][22]

References

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  1. ^ "CMIS > Councillors". ealing.cmis.uk.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  2. ^ "At last, Labour wins a majority! It's got more women than men". The Times (London). 15 December 2019. p. 23.
  3. ^ "Ealing's Local Web site". www.ealingtoday.co.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Election winners". www.wadham.ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Murray, James Stewart, (born 13 July 1983), MP (Lab Co-op) Ealing North, since 2019". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2020. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u293073. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Councillors". Islington Council. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Councillor details - Councillor James Murray". democracy.islington.gov.uk. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  8. ^ "Housing's head boy". Inside Housing. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "James Murray (past staff)". London City Hall. 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on 22 May 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  10. ^ "GLA offers fast-track planning if developers hit 35% affordable homes". Construction News. 29 November 2016.
  11. ^ "City Hall likely to scrap viability assessments above fixed affordable rate". Property Week. 10 November 2016.
  12. ^ "Khan's 35% flat rate starts to deliver". EG. 6 July 2017.
  13. ^ "State of play: London". Building. 6 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Mayor boosts council homebuilding to highest level in 34 years". London City Hall. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  15. ^ Council, Ealing. "Ealing Council download – Statements of persons nominated and notice of poll: UK Parliamentary General Election 12 December 2019 | Council and local decisions | Elections". www.ealing.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  17. ^ a b ""We must win the battle for the NHS" – James Murray's maiden speech". LabourList. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Health and Social Care Committee membership agreed - Committees - UK Parliament". committees.parliament.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  19. ^ "Labour makes Whips Office appointments". The Labour Party. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Hansard - Contributions for James Murray". UK Parliament.
  21. ^ "Ealing North - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Hansard - NHS Workforce Debate". UK Parliament. 6 December 2022.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Ealing North
2019–present 		Incumbent
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