James Stewart Murrayis 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.
Politican career
Murray served as a councillor in Islington from 2006 to 2016, representing Barnsbury ward. He was the borough's Executive Member for Housing and Development from 2010 to 2016. In this role, Inside Housing reported that he "proved himself to be a tough negotiator who knows what he wants".
He advised Sadiq Khan during his successful selection and election campaigns to become Mayor of London, and was appointed by Khan as London's Deputy Mayor for Housing in 2016.
As Deputy Mayor, Murray championed a new 'fast track' approach to affordable housing requirements for development in London. The new approach encouraged developers to offer more affordable homes upfront in exchange for dropping complex viability negotiations. It boosted affordable housing provision and won backing from many in property industry for speeding up the process.
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.
