Labour’s Witney candidate, 22, seeking to become second openly trans MP

A 22-year-old who could become Labour’s youngest ever MP and just the second openly trans member of the House of Commons has described the opportunity to reach Westminster as “mind boggling”.

Georgia Meadows, 22, found out she was Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) for Witney, which lies on the edge of the Cotswolds and is roughly 15 miles west of Oxford, on February 29 – Leap Day – and officially announced her candidacy on social media on Thursday.

Ms Meadows will be the youngest ever Labour MP if elected, unless that mantle goes to 21-year-old Luke Charters-Reid, who will run for Labour in the York Outer constituency in the next general election.

Despite the Conservatives securing a majority of 15,177 in the 2019 general election, Ms Meadows told the PA news agency she believes her party has a “real chance of winning” the seat from the Conservatives.

“It was definitely a good Leap Day for me,” she said.

“It was the most exciting news I’d ever read.

“I was almost doubtful I’d make the shortlist and then I’m suddenly the candidate for Witney and it’s mind boggling.”

Ms Meadows, who is trans, said it was “incredibly important” for her to be open about her identity.

“That kind of representation is just as important as having a young candidate,” she said.

“It has been interesting to see the response.

“Most of the responses to me so far have been hugely positive.

“I’ve had messages from MPs saying well done on your selection and there’s just some who have stereotyped me very quickly.”

Jamie Wallis – who is the member of Parliament for Bridgend in Wales – is the only openly trans MP in the UK after he came out in March 2022.

However, for Ms Meadows growing up, there was “no one” in the political arena from the trans community.

“It was difficult growing up because (trans representation) was not really visible,” she said.

“I do feel like I need to represent that community because ultimately I prefer if people judge me on my policies, but they’re going to judge me on the fact that I am trans at the end of the day and I’ll just represent myself and other trans people to the best of my ability.”

Ms Meadows said she felt compelled to join Labour since the views of the Conservatives did not align with hers.

“I wouldn’t say they’ve enabled hate towards trans people, but they’ve certainly not done enough about it,” she said.

She added it felt “incredibly humbling” to be selected as Labour’s PPC, particularly as a young care leaver.

Ms Meadows, who has autism, said she entered care at the age of 15, due to her autism.

“(Leaving care) was one of the main motivators for me, honestly, in politics, because I’ve noticed all these problems, I’ve experienced them firsthand in social care and I really, really need to do something about it,” she said.

“The care system often restricted my freedoms, which significantly limited my ability to maintain a social life even further than having autism already did,” she said.

“At 19, I finally left social care and was sent to Witney, where I thrived. I now study with the Open University, live in social housing, and am elected deputy mayor of the town.”

She has credited Labour for the success she has achieved.

On the advantages of bringing youth into politics, she said: “You have a lot of energy, which definitely helps with a campaign”, but also acknowledged there is a “stigma” attached to being young.

“I think when Keir Mather was elected, there were loads of comments saying he hasn’t had a job and he’s inexperienced and I’ve seen a few comments like that about me already,” she said.

“But, it’s youth representation.

“There’s a reason you can run after 18 and it’s because everyone from that age upwards… should be represented to some extent.

“I think I have valuable experience that could definitely help towards the Government’s decision making or the Opposition’s.”

Labour winning the Witney seat in the election in May could be a challenge, but Ms Meadows believes the party has a “real chance of winning” it.

“We have an interesting situation here in Witney because obviously 2019 was a large Conservative majority and they’ve recently lost quite a few MPs since the by-elections,” she said.

“The amount of stuff that’s happened since 2019 – the entire pandemic, we’ve had unlawful prorogations of Parliament and we’ve just had massive scandals from Boris Johnson and Liz Truss’s 44 days.

“In Witney, we are predicted a win from Electoral Calculus and there are quite a few polling sites putting us in second or first.

“I think we do actually have a real chance of winning the seat, it’s exciting.”

Some of the things Ms Meadows would like to campaign for include getting a train station in Witney, as well as trying to secure more local NHS services.