Is Britain’s new Middle East minister Stephen Doughty ‘anti-Palestinian’?
Pro-Palestine demonstrators outside the Houses of Parliament highlight ongoing calls for Britain to recognise Palestinian statehood
The New Arab reports on 31 July 2026:
The position of Minister for the Middle East and North Africa in the British government has rarely attracted the attention it is receiving today.
With the appointment of Stephen Doughty to the role in Andy Burnham’s government, and as Israel’s genocidal war on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip continues, attention has turned to his positions and how he will manage the Middle East portfolio, which has seen continued instability since 2023.
Doughty, 46, is Welsh and has represented a Cardiff constituency in the House of Commons for the Welsh Labour and Co-operative Party since 2012. He is regarded as a prominent and active member of the “Jewish Labour Movement”, which holds considerable influence within the governing Labour Party.
According to the Register of Ministers’ Interests, which requires ministers, who are necessarily members of the House of Commons, to declare their interests to ensure there is no conflict with their public duties, Doughty is also the British Labour Party representative to the Party of European Socialists, which brings together European socialist, social democratic and labour parties with the aim of promoting social justice.
Additionally, he is a member of the Labour Irish Society, the “Labour Campaign for International Development”, the “Friends of the Armed Forces”, and the Labour Party’s “Bisexual and Transgender Group”.
How is the Middle East minister selected?
The minister is one of the junior ministers supporting the Foreign Secretary, currently Ed Miliband. The appointment is made by the prime minister, in consultation with the Foreign Secretary, from among MPs representing the governing party. The official title of the post is Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.
Doughty previously served as Minister of State for Europe, North America and Overseas Territories at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office between 2024 and 2026.
**** ****
However, most of his publicly stated positions, particularly in parliament, have caused concern among supporters of the Palestine movement in Britain. These positions include:
- In November 2023, he abstained from voting on a House of Commons motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, less than five weeks after the start of Israel’s genocidal war.
- In January 2024, he voted against a proposal concerning preventing local public bodies and institutions in the United Kingdom from imposing investment bans on Jewish settlements built in the occupied Palestinian territories.