Neil Coyle


Neil Coyle is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Bermondsey and Old Southwark since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, he previously was elected to Southwark London Borough Council in 2010.

Early life

Coyle grew up in Luton and is one of six children. He went to Wenlock and Ashcroft schools before being educated at the Bedford School, an independent school for boys founded in 1552. He received a BA in British Politics and Legislative Studies from the University of Hull.
Coyle was elected as a councillor for Newington ward in the Southwark London Borough Council election 2010. As a councillor, he supported the unsuccessful Garden Bridge project, on which his wife worked as a landscape architect. He stood down as a councillor in 2016.

Parliamentary career

Coyle defeated the Liberal Democrat incumbent, Simon Hughes, to take Bermondsey & Old Southwark at the 2015 general election. He was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015. Following his election, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.
Following the May 2016 elections, he co-wrote an article with Jo Cox which said that they had "come to regret" the decision of voting to make Jeremy Corbyn leader of the opposition. After the article was published, Coyle resigned from the shadow cabinet. He then supported Owen Smith in his unsuccessful attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election. Coyle has remained highly critical of Corbyn and has written a series of articles arguing against Corbyn's position on everything from terrorism to Brexit.
In the 2016 referendum on the UK leaving the European Union, Coyle campaigned to remain.
In February 2017, Coyle was one of 47 Labour MPs who defied the party's three-line whip to vote against triggering Article 50 for the UK to leave the EU and has called for it to be revoked. Coyle sits on the Work and Pensions Select Committee. At the 2017 snap general election, Coyle increased his majority.
He chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Wines and Spirits, the secretariat for which is provided by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, which is based in Coyle's constituency. He also chairs the APPG for Foodbanks, which he established in 2017, as well as those for Ending Homelessness and Counter Extremism. He is a member of the Co-operative Party and Progress.
In February 2019, Coyle revealed that he had declined an invitation to join The Independent Group, later Change UK, a splinter group of centrist Labour and Conservative MPs that formed that month.

Inappropriate language

Boris Johnson

Coyle has been criticised for his use of language in public on a number of occasions. In September 2019, Coyle referred to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on British television as "a dick." Following the incident, Coyle spoke with the Southwark News saying his constituents had complained about his use of language, suggesting he doesn't "need to be that crude." Coyle then told the Southwark News, "I will be toning down the language but never the passion."

Brexit and Piers Morgan

A month after the first incident, Coyle again used inappropriate language on his Twitter account. During the Labour party conference, leader Jeremy Corbyn made a Brexit statement that the Labour Party would not be immediately backing either leave or remain. Many Labour MP's voiced their concerns, but Coyle went a step further by describing Jeremy Corbyn's stance as "bullshit."
Coyle again received media coverage after a day of strongly-worded statements in the House of Commons. Labour MPs and their leader, Jeremy Corbyn, were critical of Boris Johnson's use of language, including when Johnson suggested that the best way to honour Jo Cox was to deliver Brexit. Journalist and presenter Piers Morgan then tweeted about the use of Jo Cox's name, saying "Parliament has reached a new low on all sides. Disgraceful." Coyle replied on Twitter in several posts, telling Morgan to "go fuck yourself," while also calling him a "sick little man" and a "scrote." The British media quickly picked up on Coyle's aggressive tone, comparing it to the language of the Prime Minister the previous day.

Personal life

Coyle lives in his constituency and is married to a landscape architect. They have one daughter. Coyle has written about the impact on his family of his mother's mental ill-health and the inadequacy of support she receives from social and health services, and how this drives his campaigning work.