About Me

I was first elected as the MP for Doncaster North in May 2005, and it has been an honour to serve the people of Doncaster for over 20 years.

In 2007 I was appointed Minister for the Cabinet Office under Gordon Brown, and later as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (2008–2010) where I oversaw the introduction of the Climate Change Act. The Act made the UK the first country in the world to set legally binding climate targets, and influenced many other countries to follow the UK’s lead.

In 2010 I was proud to be elected Leader of the Labour Party, serving as Leader of the Opposition until 2015. After the 2015 election I stood down as Labour leader, and from 2015-2020 took up constituency campaigns including tackling irresponsible lending by rent-to-own companies, and chairing Doncaster’s Climate Change Commission. During this time, I also worked as a Commissioner for Shelter’s Social Housing Commission, and co-Chaired IPPR’s Environmental Justice Commission.

I returned to the Labour frontbench in 2020, serving initially as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2020–2021), and later as Shadow Secretary for Energy and Net Zero (2021–2024).

After Labour’s General Election victory in 2024, I was appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. In this role, I am responsible for ensuring the UK’s energy security, bringing down energy bills, creating good jobs in the clean industries of the future, and leading the transition to a net zero economy.

I am married to Justine and we have two young sons. In my spare time, I enjoy watching baseball and football, and I am a big fan of both the Boston Red Sox and Leeds United.