Luke Akehurst

MP for North Durham

Labour

Luke Akehurst is the Labour Party MP for North Durham, and having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Akehurst won 16,562 votes, representing 39.8% of the vote. The Reform UK candidate, Andrew Husband, received 10,689 votes (25.7%), while the Conservative candidate, George Carter, secured 6,492 votes (15.6%). Akehurst was duly elected with a majority of 5,873.

The North Durham constituency has been held continuously by the Labour Party since its creation in its current form in 1983. Akehurst’s immediate predecessor was Kevan Jones (Labour), who had held the seat since 2001. Giles Radice held the seat for Labour from 1983 to 2001.

Political Career

Akehurst is a member of the House of Commons finance committee (since January 2025). The finance committee is an internal body of the House of Commons responsible for overseeing the financial management of the House itself. Unlike a select committee, it does not scrutinise government departments. Instead, its remit is purely administrative and focused on the House’s own budget and expenditure.

Akehurst has been a member of the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) since November 2020, having previously served from 2010 to 2012. Akehurst is now an elected parliamentary representative on the Labour NEC (since September 2024).

As a member of the NEC, Akehurst played a significant role in selecting the Labour Party’s candidates for the 2024 general election.

Akehurst is a prominent figure in Labour factional politics.

He has been secretary of the Labour First organisation, which represents the “old right” or moderate wing of the party, since 2006. Following the 2024 election, he co-founded the Labour First Parliamentary Network.

Labour First is a staunch defender of what it terms the party’s mainstream, traditional values. It was a key voice of internal opposition to the leadership during the Corbyn years. The parliamentary network is styled as the Labour right’s “answer to the Labour left’s Socialist Campaign Group”.

In a statement released upon the formation of the group, co-signed by Akehurst, said it had taken “several years of hard graft to win back the party from those on the hard left who had no interest in winning elections and to bring the party to the point where we could win”.

According to a PoliticsHome report, the statement also warned that “the left are still waiting in the wings to take advantage of any discord within the party”.

The Labour First Parliamentary Network is convened by Akehurst’s Labour parliamentary colleague Gurinder Singh Josan, who also serves on the NEC.

Akehurst was also involved in setting up the Labour to Win umbrella organisation which supported Keir Starmer’s leadership after 2020. The group set out “to bring about fundamental change in the party’s culture and organisation.” Akehurst was re-elected to the Labour NEC on the Labour to Win slate in 2020.

Akehurst is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for Hadrian’s Wall and the Leamside Line.

Akehurst delivered his maiden speech on 22 July 2024 during a debate on the economy, welfare and public services.

In it, he stated: “It has taken me some time to get elected to the House. I first stood in a general election back in 2001, so no one can accuse me of being a young man in a rush. I am humbled to finally be here, having done some other things in party politics along the way.

“I pay tribute to my late mum and dad, who inspired me to get involved in politics. They gave me my Labour values, and I am sorry that they just missed out on the chance to see me get here.”

He added: “I have been elected in a long line of Labour members, all, as far as I can discern, from the same moderate tradition in the party that I stand in, and including distinguished frontbenchers such as Giles Radice and Jack Lawson, who served as Attlee’s secretary of state for war in the closing days of world war two.”

Before entering parliament, Akehurst served as a Labour councillor on Hackney London Borough Council from 2002 to 2014. He stood unsuccessfully as a Labour parliamentary candidate in Aldershot (2001) and Castle Point (2005).

Political views

Akehurst was a prominent critic of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party. During the 2015 Labour leadership election, he reportedly supported “ABC” (Anyone But Corbyn). Akehurst’s preferred candidate was Yvette Cooper.

In September 2019, Akehurst delivered a speech at a Jewish Labour Movement rally, saying he had nearly left the party over antisemitism.

Akehurst was also director of the advocacy group We Believe in Israel from 2011 until his election in 2024.

Momentum, the Corbynite campaign vehicle, has described Akehurst’s views as “a slap in the face to voters across the country already outraged by Labour’s failings on Gaza” and argued he was “not fit to be a candidate” in 2024.

In April 2025, Akehurst described Israel’s decision to deny entry to two fellow Labour MPs, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, as “outrageous”.

Referencing his previous role as director of We Believe In Israel, Akehurst told the House of Commons: “Part of my job was to lead study tours for British politicians to visit Israel. Incidentally every single trip I led also visited the West Bank to hear Palestinian perspectives on the conflict.”

He added: “I commend my two honourable friends for wanting to visit the region and see the situation for themselves. We probably disagree on aspects of the conflict, but they are moderate voices who support a two state solution.

“I think it is outrageous that they were detained and not allowed entry.”

Leadership elections and loyalty

Oppose leadership election: In May 2026, Akehurst was among the over 100 Labour MPs who signed a joint statement insisting it was “no time for a leadership contest.” The letter was an intervention in the political crisis engulfing Keir Starmer’s premiership, after Labour suffered heavy losses in the 2026 local elections and devolved elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru. It was organised as a counterweight to a mounting rebellion that had seen high-profile figures, including some ministers, call for Starmer’s resignation.

The statement read: “Last week we had a devastatingly tough set of election results. It shows we have a hard job ahead to win back trust from the electorate.

“That job needs to start today – with all of us working together to deliver the change the country needs.

“We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest.”

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Akehurst was one of 175 Labour MPs who nominated Bridget Phillipson 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.

Phillipson, the serving education secretary, was widely viewed as the candidate favoured by Downing Street and the party leadership. She secured 175 nominations from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), comfortably exceeding the 80 required to reach the final ballot. She was ultimately defeated by Lucy Powell.

Factional identity and party tradition

Red Wall Caucus: Akehurst is a member of the Labour Red Wall Caucus, a parliamentary pressure group of Labour MPs representing constituencies in the Midlands and Northern England. Formed in November 2024 and led by Bassetlaw MP Jo White, the caucus serves as a voice for the so-called “red wall” seats that returned to Labour en masse at the 2024 general election.

In May 2025, following a series of disappointing local election results for the Labour Party, the caucus issued a statement calling for a shift in government strategy. The group argued that Keir Starmer’s “plan for change” messaging had “fallen on deaf ears”, inviting ministers to “visit our areas, listen and rebuild the social contract between government and the people.”

The statement added: “The demands raised by new MPs from post-industrial towns where infrastructure is poor with years of underinvestment must be taken off the too-difficult-to-do list.

“Breakaway from Treasury orthodoxy otherwise we will never get the investment we desperately need. The government needs to it improve messaging by telling our story and articulating our values in the language that resonates and is heard.”

In a subsequent letter to Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, on 27 August 2025, the MPs said they were elected “with commitments to destroy the criminal smuggling gang networks, ensure that our border is secure… and to quickly remove those who have no entitlement to be here.”

They went on to critique Farage’s deportations plan.

The MPs added: “We believe that migrants who pose a threat to public safety should be tagged, and that we should expand right-to-work checks to crack down on illegal working. We believe sex offenders should never get asylum in the UK. We believe that the criminal people smuggling gangs should be treated like terrorists.”

Get Britain Working Group: Akehurst has been listed as a member of the Get Britain Working Group of Labour MPs – a caucus supportive of the Starmer leadership’s position on welfare. The group argues for a “new social contract built on employment and opportunity”, focusing on the rising number of people out of the workforce due to long-term sickness.

In an open letter, issued upon the group’s founding in March 2025, the group expressed its support for the government’s welfare measures set out in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill. The bill was subject to a significant revolt of over 120 Labour MPs – which forced ministers into a series of concessions shortly before its first vote in the House of Commons.

Living standards coalition: Akehurst 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.”

Fair elections APPG: Akehurst 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.

Labour Friends of Nato: Akehurst is a patron of Labour Friends of Nato (LFN), a parliamentary network and pressure group established in January 2026 to reinforce the Labour Party’s commitment to the Atlantic alliance. According to a LabourList report, the group seeks to deepen understanding of Nato’s strategic role among MPs and party activists. It also seeks to provide a platform to rebut political arguments from both the left and right that seek to diminish Britain’s involvement in the treaty.

The formation of the network was framed by its founders as a return to the post-war traditions of the Clement Attlee government, which helped establish the alliance.

The group set up with plans to organise fact-finding missions to Nato’s military and political headquarters in Brussels and hosting an annual lecture in honour of Ernest Bevin, the former foreign secretary and Nato treaty signatory.

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Akehurst voted in favour of the government’s flagship welfare 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.

In June 2025, Akehurst hit out at those Labour MPs who planned to rebel on the government’s welfare reforms, telling GB News: “I’m going to be supporting the government because I’m a Labour MP so should vote with the government.”

https://x.com/GBNEWS/status/1937909852371591671

In a further intervention, Akehurst said: “Whatever people’s views are on the merits of welfare reform I’m astonished colleagues would sign a ‘reasoned amendment’ that would destroy a piece of government legislation.

“That isn’t how we should resolve policy concerns and risks us facing a political crisis. I would urge people to remove their signatures in the interests of party unity.”

Assisted dying

Akehurst 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): Akehurst 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.

Foreign policy and security

IPAC: Akehurst is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) – an international, cross-party network of legislators from democratic countries focused on relations with the People’s Republic of China. The alliance, established on 4 June 2020, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, was formed to unite “lawmakers worldwide, promoting democracy and addressing threats to the rules-based and human rights systems posed by the rise of China.”

Before Politics

Born on 2 March 1972, Akehurst grew up in South East England. He was educated at Kent College, Canterbury, a private school.

He graduated with a politics degree from the University of Bristol in 1993.

Akehurst worked in the BBC Political Research Unit from 1996 to 2000, and for the global communications and public relations firm Weber Shandwick from 2000 to 2011.

From August 2011 until July 2024, he was Director of the pro-Israel advocacy group We Believe in Israel.

Personal Life

Akehurst is married to Linda Smith, who has served as a Labour councillor on Oxford City Council. They have two sons.

In 2009, Akehurst was diagnosed with POEMS syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. This led to five months in hospital and required extensive physiotherapy. He uses orthotics and a walking stick.