Meet Edinburgh's new MPs: Tracy Gilbert, Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith

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Tracy Gilbert, the new MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, grew up in Penicuik in the 1980s when Thatcherism was at its height.

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"I witnessed first-hand the impact that politics had on my family, our friends and my community," she says. "I never thought things would get that bad again - yet here we are.

New MP Tracy Gilbert has been regional secretary of shopworkers' union Usdaw, representing 37,000 workers. New MP Tracy Gilbert has been regional secretary of shopworkers' union Usdaw, representing 37,000 workers.
New MP Tracy Gilbert has been regional secretary of shopworkers' union Usdaw, representing 37,000 workers. | supplied

"I am enthusiastic about eradicating the scourge of poverty across Scotland. We are a rich country, and it is shameful that the underfunding of healthcare, social care, housing and the lack of essential food and heating is a reality in our society today."

She left school just before she turned 16 and later joined Edinburgh City Council under the Youth Training Scheme (YTS), the Government's on-the-job training programme.  

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"The only thing I knew I didn't want to do when I left school was work in an office - so obviously I went to work in an office. My friend got me an interview and the only reason I went to the interview was because I didn't want to let her down."

She went on to become a housing benefits officer with the council and worked there for about 10 years before taking up a role as a full-time officer for Unison within the council. 

She worked with the TUC Organising Academy and then became an organiser with the shopworkers' union Usdaw in 2000, negotiating pay rises across different sectors.She was appointed Usdaw's deputy regional secretary for Scotland in 2017 and has been regional secretary since 2021, representing 37,000 members.

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She has lived in Leith all her adult life and has been active in the Labour party since 1997. "Leith is a fantastic place to stay,” she says.  Now she will represent the port - and the rest of the constituency, which includes Broughton, the New Town, Stockbridge, Inverleith, Trinity, Granton, Pilton and Muirhouse - in the House of Commons.

She says too much politics has been "blaming each other and no-one actually doing anything".  She decided to get involved because "I just want to get my sleeves rolled up and start to make a difference".

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