Following the general election on 4 July, two Exeter College alumni have been elected Members of Parliament. Chris Murray (2005, Modern Languages) is a new Labour MP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, whilst Claire Coutinho (2004, Mathematics and Philosophy) has returned as Conservative MP for East Surrey.
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh was reinstated as a constituency for the 2024 election, replacing Edinburgh East, which had been a Scottish National Party seat since 2015. Chris Murray overhauled the SNP’s commanding position, taking 41.2% of the vote (up 14.5%) against 33.1% for the SNP’s Tommy Sheppard – a winning margin of almost four thousand votes.
Previously, Murray has worked as a political assistant to prominent Labour politician Harriet Harman, as an attaché at the UK embassy in Paris, and as an advisor at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Save the Children. He has also served on two think tanks, amongst other roles. Most recently, he spent a year as a John F. Kennedy Fellow at Harvard.
Following his election Chris Murray posted on X: “It is an enormous honour to be elected MP for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh. I know many people voted Labour for the first time, or the first time in a long time, because they want change. I promise to work as hard as I can for this community. Thank you.”
In East Surrey, former investment banker Claire Coutinho comfortably retained her seat, despite strong competition from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK. She took 35.6% of the votes, some 7,450 votes ahead of Labour’s candidate in second place.
Having served in Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet as the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since August 2023, Claire Coutinho is now serving as shadow secretary in opposition to the newly appointed Ed Miliband. Commenting on X, Coutinho congratulated Miliband on taking up the role: “Congratulations Ed Miliband on your return to Government. I know you will find, just as I did, many deeply expert and dedicated people in a Department which has a huge role to play defining our nation’s success in the decades ahead.”
Exeter congratulates Chris Murray and Claire Coutinho on their election successes.
Images: Chris Murray advocating for Portobello Beach, within his constituency; Official portrait of Claire Coutinho by David Woolfall
