Matthew Pennycook has been the Member of Parliament for Greenwich and Woolwich since May 2015 and is Shadow Minister of State for Housing and Planning. Matthew served as Shadow Climate Change Minister from April 2020 to December 2021 and was Shadow Brexit Minister for three years before this. He was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, John Healey MP, and a member of the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee. Matthew founded the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Air Pollution and previously chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Renewable and Sustainability Energy.

Before becoming an MP, Matthew worked for a number of charitable and voluntary organisations including the Fair Pay Network and the Resolution Foundation where he led on issues relating to welfare reform, low pay and working poverty. He also served as a local councillor in the Royal Borough of Greenwich between 2010 and 2015.