Layla Moran

Layla Michelle Moran ( mə-RAN; born 12 September 1982) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. She has served as the Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee since September 2024, and has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon since 2017. Moran worked as a maths and physics teacher. She unsuccessfully campaigned as the Liberal Democrat candidate in Battersea at the 2010 general election; in the West Central constituency at the 2012 London Assembly election; and in Oxford West and Abingdon at the 2015 general election. Moran was selected for the seat again at the 2017 general election and was elected to the House of Commons, defeating Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood. She was the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Department for Education under three leaders from 2017 to 2020, and was spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2019 to 2020. After Jo Swinson lost her seat at the 2019 general election, Moran stood to become the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the 2020 leadership election, which she lost to acting leader Sir Ed Davey. On 31 August 2020, Davey appointed Moran as the Liberal Democrats' shadow foreign secretary, and as international development spokesperson the following day. She served in these roles until her election as Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee. Moran came out as pansexual in 2020 and is the first UK parliamentarian to do so. She is the first MP of Palestinian descent.