Karl Turner (British politician)

Karl William Turner (born 15 April 1971) is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull East since 2010. He was serving as the Shadow Solicitor General from November 2023 until the 2024 UK general election.

Early life and career
Karl Turner was born on 15 April 1971 in Kingston upon Hull. He was raised in the city and was educated at Bransholme High School from 1984 to 1987, leaving at the age of 16. He attended HCC Training to study business administration from 1987 to 1989. Later, Turner became a self-employed antiques dealer.

He returned to education in the late 1990s to study A Levels at Hull College, before graduating with a law degree as a mature student from the University of Hull in 2004.

Turner became a barrister in 2005 after passing the Bar Vocational Course at Northumbria University and went on to practice criminal law for the Max Gold Partnership in Hull. He did not complete his pupillage and is no longer authorised to practise by the Bar Standards Board.

Parliamentary career


Turner was selected by the Labour Party as their candidate for Kingston upon Hull East in March 2008. At the 2010 general election, Turner was elected to Parliament as MP for Kingston upon Hull East with 47.9% of the vote and a majority of 8,597.

In April 2014, Turner referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards after complaints were made in relation to invitations to a £45-a-head Labour Party fundraising event, sent using parliamentary email accounts. The Commissioner for Standards concluded that there should be no inquiry.

Turner was appointed Shadow Solicitor General by Labour leader Ed Miliband on 3 December 2014, and continued to serve as an opposition whip.

At the 2015 general election, Turner was re-elected as MP for Kingston upon Hull East with an increased vote share of 51.7% and an increased majority of 10,319.

On 11 January 2016, Turner was appointed Shadow Attorney General for England and Wales to replace Catherine McKinnell, who resigned following a reshuffle to the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn. On 26 June 2016, Turner resigned from the Shadow Cabinet following the EU referendum, among a number of his colleagues unhappy with Jeremy Corbyn's leadership. He supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election. On 14 October 2016, it was announced that Turner had returned to Labour's frontbench as a Whip.

Turner was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 58.3% and an increased majority of 10,396. Following the election, he was appointed as Shadow Shipping, Aviation and Road Safety Minister within the Shadow Transport team.

On 12 March 2018, allegations of sexual misconduct against Turner were reported in the British press. Turner, via his solicitors, denied making any such comments or behaving inappropriately. The Labour Party said it had not received a formal complaint and that complaints about inappropriate behaviour are taken "extremely seriously".

In September 2019, Speaker of the House John Bercow described Turner as the "noisiest member of the House".

At the 2019 general election, Turner was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 39.2% and a decreased majority of 1,239.

Turner is a member of the Labour Friends of Israel group in Parliament.

In August 2023, Turner apologised after sharing a doctored image of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Twitter.

In May 2024, Turner was re-selected as the Labour candidate for Kingston upon Hull East at the 2024 general election.

Personal life
He is married to Leanne Turner.