[3] Whitfield previously served as the Member of Parliament for East Lothian[4] from the 2017 snap general election,[5] when he unseated the sitting MP, George Kerevan of the Scottish National Party,[6] until his defeat at the 2019 general election by the SNP candidate Kenny MacAskill, who later defected to Alba in 2021.

He worked as a solicitor between 1989-2001, before leaving the law profession to retrain as a teacher at the University of Edinburgh, achieving a PGCPE pass with merit in teaching in 2002.

[19] Following the announcement that the US would impose tariffs on single malt Scotch whisky from 18 October 2019, Whitfield took a leading role in efforts to encourage the UK Government to persuade US counterparts to reconsider the move and co-ordinated a letter to the US Ambassador.

[24] He later became a supporter and executive committee member for the organisation Scientists for Labour, providing advice and input to Sir Keir Starmer's office on the COVID-19 pandemic.

[28] Whitfield is Labour's Parliamentary Business Manager and spokesperson for Children and Young People in the Scottish Parliament.