Ian Byrne is the Labour Party MP for Liverpool West Derby, having first been elected to parliament at the 2019 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Byrne received 25,302 votes in Liverpool West Derby, representing 66.6% of the vote share. The Reform UK candidate, Jack Boyd, received 4,879 votes (12.8%), while the Green Party candidate, Maria Coughlan, secured 2,647 votes (7.0%). Byrne was duly elected with a majority of 20,423 votes.

The Liverpool West Derby constituency covers the north-eastern part of the City of Liverpool, including areas such as West Derby, Croxteth, Norris Green, Tuebrook, and Stoneycroft. Represented by the Conservatives between 1950 and 1964, it has been a safe Labour seat continuously since then. Eric Ogden, who represented the seat from 1964-1981, defected from Labour to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in October 1981.

Political Career

On 23 July 2024, Byrne had the Labour whip withdrawn and was suspended from the parliamentary party for six months after voting for an Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the king’s speech calling on the new Labour government to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

Byrne included, seven Labour MPs were suspended from the parliamentary party for supporting the SNP amendment – namely Zarah Sultana, John McDonnell, Ipsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Imran Hussain and Rebecca Long-Bailey.

In February 2025, the whip was restored to four of those suspended MPs – Byrne, as well as Burgon, Hussain and Long-Bailey. However, Begum, Sultana and McDonnell remained as independent MPs because they had continued to be critical of the government, reports and briefings indicated. In September 2025, the whip was restored to Begum and McDonnell.

In an interview with the New Statesman, published May 2025, Byrne insisted that the government would not “solve the issue of child poverty without removing [the two-child cap].”

Byrne is a prominent campaigner for justice for the victims and survivors of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, at which he was present. He has been a staunch and longtime advocate of a “Hillsborough Law”, which would enshrine a legal responsibility for public servants to tell the truth after state-related disasters.

In July 2025, Byrne introduced a bill to this effect to parliament, citing the concerns of campaigners that the government’s plans for the legislation did not include certain key provisions – such as forcing public officials to tell the truth at major inquiries and preventing cover-ups.

Speaking in June, Byrne told BBC Radio Merseyside that the Hillsborough Law is “something which the country desperately needs”, adding that it “would save so many families from so much pain”. He told the prime minister, Keir Starmer, that he risked “yet another betrayal of Hillsborough families and survivors” if the government did not support the legislation, with Labour having backed the proposition in its manifesto.

The MP later expressed his “bitter disappointment” after his attempt to get the original Hillsborough Law through parliament, via the 10-minute rule bill mechanism, was thwarted. Starmer told the House of Commons that a Hillsborough Law would be brought forward, as promised in the Labour manifesto, but he wanted “to take the time to get it right”.

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In December 2020, Byrne founded the national Right to Food campaign, which seeks to establish a legal right to food in UK law to combat food poverty. The campaign aims “to have the ‘Right to Food’ enshrined in law and to end the scandal of hunger and foodbanks once and for all.”

In 2023, Byrne wrote: “A Right to Food enshrined in law is desperately needed so that everyone, including all children, are legally protected from hunger. In one of the richest countries in the world you would think this would be a given but political choices have led us to this dire situation of hunger on a scale not seen since the last century.”

Byrne previously served on the environment, food and rural affairs select committee and the housing, communities and local government select committee, both from 2020 until the 2024 general election.

In late 2022, Byrne faced a reselection process following criticism from local party branches. The contest was highly contentious, with Byrne alleging rule breaches and intimidation, even suggesting he might seek police guidance. Byrne was ultimately reselected and went on to increase his vote share in 2024.

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Byrne is currently listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for acquired brain injury, the Holy See, and motor neurone disease.

Byrne delivered his maiden speech on 17 March during a debate on income tax. In it, he stated: “The constituency of Liverpool, West Derby has many notable sons and daughters, including Bessie Braddock, the formidable former Labour MP, who lived with her husband Jack on Zig Zag Road in West Derby in 1942.

“West Derby is home to The Casbah coffee club – a legendary venue that played a huge role in the formation of the world’s greatest band: the Beatles.”

Byrne went on to reference the Hillsborough disaster.

He said: “On 15 April 1989, at 17 years of age, I was in Leppings Lane at the FA cup semi-final at Hillsborough. What happened that day, the aftermath and the smears against the families, survivors and the people of our city have profoundly shaped my life and my politics.”

He added: “We now know that austerity was a political choice. I know the human cost all too well. In 2015, I teamed up with my Evertonian mates Dave and Robbie to co-found Fans Supporting Foodbanks, a grassroots initiative that puts football fans at the heart of the fight against food poverty.”

Before becoming an MP, Byrne served as a Labour councillor on Liverpool City Council from 2018 until 2022, donating his councillor allowance to Vauxhall Law Centre.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Starmer stand down: In May 2026, Byrne publicly called for Keir Starmer, the prime minister, to step down/set out a timetable for his departure. The move followed the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru.

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Byrne was one of 24 Labour MPs who nominated Bell Ribeiro-Addy 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.

Ribeiro-Addy, a member of the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG), was seen as the candidate on the left of the party. She secured only 24 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), far short of the 80 required under rules introduced in 2021.

Labour leadership 2020: Byrne was one of 33 Labour MPs who nominated Rebecca Long-Bailey for the party’s leadership in early 2020. The election was triggered by the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn following the party’s defeat in the 2019 general election, which resulted in Labour’s fewest seats in the House of Commons since 1935.

Long-Bailey, then the shadow business secretary, was widely regarded as the continuity candidate for the party’s left/Corbynite wing. Long-Bailey finished second with 27.6% of the vote, losing to Keir Starmer, who won a decisive victory in the first round with 56.2%.

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Factional identity and party tradition

Socialist Campaign Group: Byrne has been listed as a member of the SCG – the standard-bearer of the left wing within the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). Founded in 1982 by followers of Tony Benn, the group has traditionally advocated policies such as widespread public ownership, wealth redistribution and strengthened trade union rights.

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Socialism26: In May 2026, Byrne was a signatory of Socialism26, a political initiative and pressure group launched by a coalition of Labour MPs and general secretaries from several major affiliated trade unions, including Unison, Aslef, the CWU, the TSSA and the FBU. The group described itself as advocating a “programme for change” intended to facilitate a “progressive political reset” within the Labour Party. It called for a return to traditional socialist values and greater internal party democracy.

The initiative was built upon a set of policy demands, including urging the government to “recognise the genocide in Gaza”, deliver full compensation for the “Waspi” women affected by state pension age changes, protect civil liberties and embrace intervention to lower energy bills.

Socialism26 described this programme as “the bare minimum to ensure that the public can see and feel the difference a socialist government makes to their lives.”

Labour ‘reset’: In March 2026, Byrne was among dozens of Labour parliamentarians to co-sign a statement calling for a “reset” in the party’s internal culture and political direction. The statement, supported by an alliance of MPs from both the Mainstream (“soft-left”) and Momentum (left) wings of the party, condemned what it saw as the “insular, centralising approach” of the leadership. It called on Labour to rebuild “basic democracy, pluralism and fair process within our party.”

The intervention followed a series of by-election results in Gorton and Denton, Runcorn and Helsby and Caerphilly.

The statement said: “We stand against the insular, centralising approach of the current leadership that refuses to draw on the energy, talent and ideas of our whole movement, the continued underfunding of public services and local government, and the pandering to the talking points of the far right.”

It added: “We, the undersigned members from every section of the Labour Party – parliamentarians, councillors, internal election candidates, members and trade unionists, pledge to reset the Labour Party.”

Corbyn suspension: In November 2020, Byrne was among the 32 SCG MPs to sign a statement declaring that they opposed the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn and calling for the disciplinary action to be “swiftly reversed”.

The statement read: “This decision and the division it causes severely undermines efforts to unite to defeat antisemitism and fully implement the EHRC [Equality and Human Rights Commission] recommendations and to challenge and defeat this disastrous Conservative government.”

Corbyn’s suspension came after he issued a response to the EHRC report, arguing “the scale of the [antisemitism] problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents”.

Momentum endorsement: Byrne was endorsed by the left-wing campaign group Momentum in the 2024 general election. Momentum was founded in 2015 to support the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn and to campaign for socialist policies within the Labour party.

Fair elections APPG: Byrne is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for fair elections – a cross-party group of MPs and peers that campaigns for electoral reform. The group’s stated aims include replacing the first past the post (FPTP) voting system with a form of proportional representation, eliminating “dark money” and “undemocratic influence” from politics, and countering disinformation.

Spycops vote (2020): In October 2020, Byrne was one of the 34 Labour MPs to break the party whip by voting against the covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill at its commons third reading. The proposed legislation, often referred to as the “spycops bill”, was introduced by the Conservative government to authorise undercover agents and informants to commit crimes while on operations. The Labour Party had whipped its representatives to abstain on the bill on the basis that the legislation is “far from perfect” yet “necessary” due to “the need to provide a clear lawful framework for the use of human intelligence sources”.

Welfare

Welfare ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Byrne 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 May 2025, Byrne had 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): Byrne 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.

Speaking in the second reading debate on the proposed legislation, Byrne said: “Disabled people in my constituency tell me that they feel abandoned and punished. Perhaps most heartbreakingly, they believed that, after 14 years of Tory austerity and attacks, covid, and the cost of living crisis, a Labour government – their Labour government – would protect them. That belief has now been shattered.”

He added: “I ask myself how can I look them in the eye and tell them that they are wrong, because the truth is that this bill is an absolute shambles. It is immoral. It has been rewritten on the fly. Policies affecting millions and millions of disabled lives have been made up in this chamber over the past couple of hours.

“We are being asked to vote on a bill, as legislators, without full impact assessments, without proper scrutiny, without even knowing what the final version will be.”

Winter fuel payment EDM: In September 2024, Byrne 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

Byrne voted against 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).

In a statement setting out his position, Byrne expressed his “grave concerns” about the bill, stating that it should be placed within the context of a “broken health and palliative care system.”

He added: “In my view, when people don’t have the option of high quality palliative care, they don’t have a free choice about their end of life…

“The wealthy can afford the end-of-life care and support they need, whilst working class communities are more likely to feel coerced by financial imperatives – that is a deeply worrying scenario, and it is sadly what has all too often transpired in countries that have already legalised assisted dying.”

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Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Byrne 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.

Social media ban: In January 2026, Byrne was one of over 60 Labour MPs to sign a letter to the prime minister calling for the introduction of an Australia-style ban on social media access for children under the age of 16. Organised by Plymouth Moor View MP Fred Thomas, the initiative brought together a cross-factional coalition of backbenchers – spanning the Socialist Campaign Group, Tribune Group and Blue Labour – to demand action.

The letter called on Keir Starmer to “show leadership” by introducing a minimum age for social media access “to protect young people from the consequences of unregulated, addictive social media platforms”.

It stated: “We are all strong supporters of technology, and of this Labour government’s ambition to use tech to improve lives. But successive governments have done far too little to protect young people from the consequences of unregulated, addictive social media platforms.”

Lying amendment: Also in January 2026, Byrne was listed as a supporter of an amendment to the Public Office (Accountability) Bill, often referred to as the “Hillsborough Law”, that would extend the proposed criminal offence of misleading the public to include MPs and peers. Luke Myer, the Labour MP behind the proposal, argued that his amendment would mean “no-one in parliament would be above the law”, adding: “If politicians deliberately lie to the public, there should be consequences.”

Myer stated: “This amendment is a proportionate, carefully safeguarded response to a real democratic risk. It is not about stifling debate or political disagreement, it is about ensuring that those who seek or hold public office cannot deliberately and knowingly mislead the public without consequence.

“The polling shows that voters across the political spectrum expect parliament to act.”

Myer’s amendment won the support of 30 cross-party MPs.

Foreign policy and security

Palestine

LFPME: Byrne has been listed as a member of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East (LFPME). The organisation’s stated aim is to promote peace and justice in the region through the application of international law and respect for human rights.

Palestine Action vote: In July 2025, Byrne was one of 26 MPs to vote against the proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act of 2000. The ban, passed by 385 votes to 26, came after the Home Office accused the group of “aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public”. However, civil liberties organisations argued proscription represented an overreach of state power and a threat to the right to protest.

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Byrne 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.

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Ceasefire vote (November 2023): Byrne was among 56 Labour MPs to vote in favour of a Scottish National Party (SNP) amendment to the King’s Speech in the House of Commons calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war – defying the instruction set out by the party’s frontbench. Labour had tabled its own motion, making a more moderate appeal for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict and ordered its representatives to support that stance.

Civil liberties

Covid passes campaign (2021): Byrne was one of over 70 MPs and peers who launched a cross-party campaign against the “divisive and discriminatory use” of Covid passes in April 2021. The campaign was triggered by government reviews into “vaccine passports”, which signatories argued would create a two-tier society and infringe upon fundamental civil liberties.

Before Politics

Born Ian Robert Byrne on 10 May 1972 in Liverpool, he grew up on the Stockbridge Village estate.

Byrne later worked as a taxi driver while studying part-time with The Open University, gaining a degree over a six-year period. He subsequently became an active member and then a trade union organiser for Unite the Union, organising sub-contracted NHS workers amongst others.

He also worked for fellow Liverpool Labour MP Dan Carden.

Byrne co-founded the Fans Supporting Foodbanks initiative in 2015.

Personal Life

Byrne was present as a 16-year-old supporter at the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, escaping the crush in which his father was seriously injured.

His daughter, Ellie Byrne, succeeded him as a Labour councillor for the Everton ward on Liverpool City Council in 2022.

Trivia

Byrne was named Overall MP of the Year in the Patchwork Foundation awards for the year 2021, in recognition for his campaigning, particularly on food insecurity and workers’ rights.

Byrne is a self-described “avid Liverpool fan” and is a committee member of the Spirit of Shankly supporters’ union.