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Kate Osborne

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Kate Osborne
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Jarrow and Gateshead East
Jarrow (2019–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byStephen Hepburn
Majority8,946 (24.4%)
Personal details
PartyLabour
Other party
Socialist Campaign Group (2019–present)
Children2
OccupationPolitician
Websitekate-osborne.co.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Katharine Helen Osborne[1] is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Jarrow and Gateshead East, formerly Jarrow since 2019.[2][3]

Career

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Osborne worked for Royal Mail for 25 years. Her first foray into politics came in 2009, when she contested a by-election for Preston ward on North Tyneside Council, losing to Conservative David Sarin.[4] The following year, Osborne was elected to represent the ward at the 2010 local elections, gaining the seat from the Conservative incumbent. She was re-elected to represent Preston in 2014, and again in 2018.[5][6][7] Osborne did not stand at the 2022 North Tyneside elections.[8]

She was elected to the House of Commons at the 2019 general election, representing Jarrow, a safe seat for Labour. She succeeded the party's former MP Stephen Hepburn, who had been prevented from standing again over allegations of misconduct.[9] Osborne is a member of Labour's left-wing Socialist Campaign Group.[10]

Osborne was appointed Parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to the Shadow Home Affairs team, led by Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott, in January 2020.[11] She served until the front bench reshuffle following Keir Starmer's election as Labour Leader in April 2020. Osborne returned as a PPS in December 2021, this time to the Shadow Northern Ireland team led by Shadow Secretary of State Peter Kyle.[12]

In 2021, she was selected for the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme, assigned to the Royal Air Force.[13]

During the June 2022 rail strikes, Osborne joined a picket line with railway workers, reportedly going against orders from her party not to do so. Commenting, she said, "Solidarity to workers on strike today, they have my full support."[14]

In 2022, a constituent from Jarrow was sentenced to an 18 month community order for "harassment without violence" against Osborne, after sending abusive and homophobic tweets.[15][16]

In December 2023, Osborne came under scrutiny for accusing Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch of likening trans children to "the spread of a disease" during a parliamentary meeting. When asked by Badenoch, Osborne failed to identify when Badenoch said this. Osborne was later accused of making up quotes that didn't exist.[17]

In August 2025, Osborne was investigated by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) for her spending on travel and subsistence costs. However, using taxis for commuting or carrying luggage had been recommended by Parliament's health service in 2023 following an operation to her spine.[18]

Osborne wrote an op-ed in The Independent in May 2026, in which she called for Keir Starmer to resign. "I have lived in Tyneside for 36 years, seven years as an MP and ten years as a Labour councillor in North Tyneside before that. Never have I felt so much anger on the doorstep," she said. "It is no exaggeration to say that Keir Starmer's name came up on the doorstep more than any other Labour leader in the 40-odd years I have been knocking on doors."[19]

Personal life

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Originally from Folkestone in Kent, Osborne has lived in Tyneside since 1990.[19] She describes herself as an "out queer woman"[20] and is an activist and campaigner in the trade union and LGBT+ movements.[21]

She was married to Pamela Brooks,[22] a former North Tyneside councillor.[5][23] The couple served on the council at the same time, including four years in which they both represented Preston ward.[24] Brooks gained Preston from the Conservative candidate who had defeated her partner in 2009. Osborne has two sons and lives in her Jarrow constituency.[25]

On 16 March 2020, Osborne became the second British Member of Parliament to test positive for COVID-19, after Conservative Nadine Dorries.[26] She was in self-isolation in her London flat for three weeks.[27][28]

References

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  1. ^ "Members Sworn". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Vol. 752. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. 10 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Kate Osborne selected as Labour's candidate in Jarrow". LabourList. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  3. ^ Swales, Martin (12 December 2019). "DECLARATION OF RESULT Election of the Member of Parliament for the Jarrow Constituency" (PDF). South Tyneside Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Tories hold North Tyneside Preston seat". News Guardian. 28 September 2009. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  5. ^ a b "North Tyneside Local Election results 1973-2012" (PDF). Elections Centre. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  6. ^ "North Tyneside 2014 Local Election results". NorthTyneside.gov.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  7. ^ Seddon, Sean (4 May 2018). "North Tyneside local elections 2018 - results in full". nechronicle. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  8. ^ "2022 local election results". North Tyneside Council. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  9. ^ "Jarrow parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  10. ^ Rodgers, Sienna (28 November 2020). "28 Socialist Campaign Group MPs urge reversal of Corbyn whip decision". LabourList. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  11. ^ Sinclair, Sarah (30 January 2020). "Jarrow MP Kate Osborne joins Shadow Home Office team as Diane Abbott's parliamentary private secretary". Shields Gazette. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  12. ^ Osborne, Kate [@KateOsborneMP] (21 December 2021). "I am pleased to announce that I have accepted the position of Private Parliamentary Secretary (PPS) to @PeterKyle, the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ "South Tyneside MP selected for Westminster armed services scheme". Shields Gazette. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  14. ^ Hordon, Daniel (21 June 2022). "North East MP defies Labour bosses to join railway strikers on picket line". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  15. ^ Dawson, Kristy (26 August 2022). "MP slams homophobic abuse". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  16. ^ Huntley, David (16 September 2022). "Jarrow woman harassed MP Kate Osborne with abusive and homophobic tweets". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  17. ^ Leeson, Lucy (14 December 2023). "Kemi Badenoch calls Labour MP 'liar' in transgender children clash". The Independent.
  18. ^ "Jarrow and Gateshead East MP investigated by standards watchdog". BBC News. 19 August 2025. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
  19. ^ a b Osborne, Kate (11 May 2026). "Labour is betraying its voters – and that's why Keir needs to go". The Independent.
  20. ^ Kelley, Nancy (12 July 2024). "Politically Queer: In conversation with Kate Osborne". Diva. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
  21. ^ Read, Carly (11 December 2019). "Labour members urge Corbyn to scrap election candidate who shared Theresa May gun picture". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Osborne, Kate". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  23. ^ Sharma, Sonia (7 May 2015). "North Tyneside local election results 2015: Who was elected in your area?". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  24. ^ "Local Elections Archive Project — Preston Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  25. ^ "About Me". Kate Osborne MP. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  26. ^ "Second MP Kate Osborne diagnosed with coronavirus following self-isolation". ITV News. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  27. ^ "Coronavirus: Jarrow MP Kate Osborne diagnosed with virus". BBC News. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  28. ^ Dickinson, Katie (31 March 2020). "Jarrow MP on how Covid-19 symptoms left her 'scared' as she struggled to breathe". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
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