Miatta Fahnbulleh

Miatta Nema Fahnbulleh (born 29 September 1979) is a British-Liberian politician and economist who has served as Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero since July 2026. She is a member of Labour Co-op; she was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Peckham in the 2024 general election. She is considered to belong to the soft left of the Labour Party.

Fahnbulleh previously served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government from 2025 to 2026.

Early life and education Fahnbulleh was born on 29 September 1979 in Liberia. a former Foreign Minister of Liberia; her mother is from Sierra Leone. At the onset of the First Liberian Civil War in 1986 the family fled to England, where they applied for asylum.

Fahnbulleh attended Beechwood Sacred Heart School, an independent school in Tunbridge Wells. Fahnbulleh wrote her thesis on the adoption of and success of industrial policy in Ghana and Kenya. She was also a Policy Fellow at the think tank Labour Together.

On 22 May 2022, Fahnbulleh was a recipient of the MotheRED grant, which provides funding for mothers to stand as parliamentary candidates for the Labour Party. In September 2022, Fahnbulleh announced that she was standing to be the prospective parliamentary candidate in Camberwell and Peckham at the next general election. On 19 November 2022, she was selected by local Labour Party members as the candidate to succeed Harriet Harman, who stood down after 40 years.

While still a Parliamentary candidate, in June 2024 the New Statesman named Fahnbulleh 47th in The Left Power List 2024, the magazine's "guide to the 50 most influential people in progressive politics", describing her as "a natural candidate to join the front bench".

Fahnbulleh has been a regular panellist on the BBC television programme Question Time.

Parliamentary career In the 2024 general election, Fahnbulleh was elected in a new seat called Peckham, with a lower share of the vote than Labour had had in 2019 in Camberwell and Peckham. On 9 July 2024, she was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Consumers. In the 2025 cabinet reshuffle, she became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Devolution, Faith and Communities.

On 12 May 2026, having only been in Parliament for 22 months, Fahnbulleh became the first government minister to resign in support of calls for Keir Starmer to step down as Prime Minister following the 2026 UK local elections. When questioned about who she supported as leader, she did not name an alternative candidate.

On 20 July 2026, she was appointed Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero under Andy Burnham.

Political views Fahnbulleh is a member of the Labour and Co-operative parties. Ideologically, she is considered to belong to the soft left of the Labour Party. She has campaigned for urgent action on the climate crisis. A left-wing economist, she has described herself as a heterodox economist and has advocated for change to the economic system.

In November 2024, Fahnbulleh voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.

In light of her appointment to Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero in July 2026, environmental organizations like Friends of the Earth have called on Fahnbulleh to hold the line on fossil fuel expansions—specifically pressuring her department over contentious oil and gas developments like the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields—while pushing to rapidly scale up onshore wind, solar, and home insulation programs. "She will, of course, inherit the same challenges. She must hold the line against harmful fossil fuel expansion – including the highly contentious Jackdaw and Rosebank fields – make cheap, clean energy available to all and build on Ed Miliband’s efforts to scale up our renewable power capacity."

Personal life Fahnbulleh is married to Graham, a hedge fund owner, and has three children who attend private schools.

Honours On 21 July 2026 Fahnbulleh was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council, entitling her to the honorific style The Right Honourable for life.