Chris Webb is the Labour MP for Blackpool South, having first been elected to parliament in a by-election on 2 May 2024.

In the 2024 general election, Webb won 16,916 votes, representing 48.1% of the vote. The Reform UK candidate, Mark Butcher, received 10,068 votes (28.6%), while the Conservative candidate, Zak Khan, secured 5,504 votes (15.6%). Webb was duly elected with a majority of 6,848 votes.

The Blackpool South constituency covers the southern part of the town in Lancashire. Held by Labour from 1997 to 2019, it was won by the Conservatives in 2019 before Webb regained it for Labour in the 2024 by-election.

Political Career

Webb was the last MP to enter the 2019-2024 parliament as a result of a by-election. The Blackpool South by-election followed the resignation of the incumbent MP Scott Benton, who was facing a recall petition after having been caught in a newspaper sting operation appearing to offer lobbying services for payment.

Webb won the by-election on a swing of 26.0 points – the third-largest Conservative-to-Labour swing since the Second World War. He secured a majority of 7,607 over the Conservative candidates in second place.

Webb delivered his maiden speech on 24 May – the last day of the 2019-2024 parliament which was shortly to be dissolved for the forthcoming general election.

Webb is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for boxing, British Council and soft power, mental health, hospitality and tourism and rugby football league.

In his maiden speech, Webb told the House: “When it was announced that I was the winner of the Blackpool South by-election at 5.15 am on 3 May, I called on the prime minister to hold a general election and give the rest of the country the same chance that my constituents had to vote for change and elect a new Labour Government.

“I thank the prime minister for taking me up on that, although I had not expected to be back out on the campaign trail quite so soon.

“I ask the whole House to join me in showing solidarity with my amazing – and now long-suffering – wife Portia, who has been at my side throughout with our amazing three-month-old son Cillian, who has brought so much joy and laughter to our lives.”

Webb went on to describe the late Labour MP Tony Lloyd as his “mentor”.

He added: “I am sad that he is not here to see me take my seat, but I will honour Tony’s memory by serving my constituents in the same way that he served his, with people at the heart of my politics.”

Before entering parliament, Webb served as deputy police and crime commissioner for Lancashire from December 2018 until May 2021. At the time, he was the youngest DPCC in the country.

Webb stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate for Blackpool North and Cleveleys in the 2017 and 2019 general elections, coming second both times to the Conservative incumbent Paul Maynard.

Political views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Webb was one of 117 Labour MPs who nominated Lucy Powell for the party’s deputy leadership in September 2025. The election followed the resignation of Angela Rayner, who stepped down as deputy prime minister and deputy party leader after an investigation into her tax affairs. It marked the first time since 2007 that Labour had held a deputy leadership contest while in government.

Powell, the former leader of the House of Commons, was seen as a candidate representing the party’s “soft left”; she was supported by leading soft left figures including Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham. She secured 117 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), above the 80 required, and went on to win the election – defeating Bridget Phillipson with 54.3% of the vote.

Factional identity and party tradition

Living standards coalition: Webb is a member of the living standards coalition. Established in July 2025, the group’s stated aim was to develop and promote policy ideas that directly reduce everyday costs for households, particularly in areas such as food, energy, housing and childcare. In an open letter published upon its founding, addressed to Keir Starmer, the MPs wrote: “Our constituents will ask one question at the next election: did this Labour government make me better off?”

They added: “To raise living standards, we support government interventions that will help to increase incomes and lower costs.”

Trade Union Group: Webb is a member of the Trade Union Group of Labour MPs. This long-standing group, founded in 1926, serves as a link between the Labour party and the trade union movement, aiming to ensure that the voices of working people and their unions are represented in parliament.

Welfare

Welfare ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Webb was one of the over 120 Labour MPs to sign the reasoned amendment to the government’s flagship welfare bill which aimed to reject the proposed legislation.

The amendment, in the name of senior Labour MP Dame Meg Hillier, objected to the fact that the bill had not been subject to a “formal consultation with disabled people” and that “250,000 people will be pushed into poverty” as a result of it, according to a government impact assessment.

The motion also called on the government to wait for the publication of the review into the Personal Independence Payment (Pip), helmed by minister Sir Stephen Timms, and the independent review, conducted by Sir Charlie Mayfield, into how the employment of disabled people could be boosted.

In March 2025, Webb condemned his party’s “devastating” benefit cuts.

He told Sky News: “This is a devastating blow for people already using food banks, already waiting for mental health support

“And in places like these coastal towns that have been forgotten these past 14 years, there just isn’t the jobs to get these people back into work.”

In May 2025, Webb signed a letter warning the government that the cuts were “impossible to support” and calling for a change in direction.

The letter, signed by 42 Labour MPs, read: “The planned cuts of more than £7bn represent the biggest attack on the welfare state since George Osborne ushered in the years of austerity and over 3 million of our poorest and most disadvantaged will be affected.

“Whilst the government may have correctly diagnosed the problem of a broken benefits system and a lack of job opportunities for those who are able to work, they have come up with the wrong medicine. Cuts don’t create jobs, they just cause more hardship.”

Welfare vote (July 2025): Webb went on to vote against the bill at second reading. The vote came after ministers agreed to significant concessions to avoid defeat via a mass rebellion of Labour MPs on 1 July 2025.

Winter fuel payment EDM: In September 2024, Webb signed an early day motion (EDM) expressing concern over the government’s proposed changes to the winter fuel payment. The motion called on the government to “postpone the ending of winter fuel payments and establish a comprehensive strategy to tackle fuel poverty, health inequality and low incomes among older people.”

Assisted dying

Webb voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Webb voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Webb was among the over 254 MPs to sign a cross-party letter calling for the government to immediately recognise the state of Palestine. The letter called on the prime minister and foreign secretary to recognise Palestine at the UN Conference then taking place in New York.

Before Politics

Christopher Paul Webb was born in Blackpool on 26 April 1986. His father was a postman and trade unionist, and his mother a teaching assistant. He attended Layton Primary School and St Mary’s Catholic High School in Blackpool.

He studied British politics and legislative studies at the University of Hull.

Before his roles in politics, he worked in tourism in Blackpool.

He later worked for Gordon Marsden, the former MP for Blackpool South.

He was chair of the mental health charity Counselling in the Community from 2018 until his election and has advocated for more mental health support in Blackpool.

Personal Life

Chris Webb married Portia Webb, a Labour councillor on Blackpool Council, in 2019. They have one son, born in 2024.

He was diagnosed with dyslexia aged 18.

Trivia

Webb took part in a boxing fight to raise money for Cancer Research in 2019.