Michelle Scrogham is the Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Scrogham won 18,537 votes, representing 43.9% of the vote. The Conservative candidate, Simon Fell, received 13,213 votes (31.3%), while the Reform UK candidate, Barry Morgan, secured 7,035 votes (16.7%). Scrogham was duly elected with a majority of 5,324.

The Barrow and Furness constituency is located in Cumbria, North West England. The seat, created in 1885 (originally as Barrow-in-Furness), has been represented by both Conservative and Labour MPs in recent times. Notable previous MPs include John Woodcock (2010-2018) and John Hutton (1992-2010).

Political Career

Scrogham is a member of the House of Commons defence select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for monitoring the expenditure, administration and policy of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and its associated public bodies. The committee’s remit includes oversight of the British Armed Forces.

In May 2026, Scrogham 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.”

Scrogham was appointed as a government “business champion” for retail in the North West – a role established in February 2025 to facilitate engagement between the Labour administration and the private sector. The position was part of a network of approximately 40 MPs appointed by the Department for Business and Trade to act as conduits for industry views on government policy. The grouping operated under the oversight of Dan Tomlinson, the national “mission champion” for growth.

The selection of champions was designed to leverage the professional expertise of the 2024 intake of MPs, and the role was seen as an early step on the Westminster ladder. However, the scheme was reportedly scrapped in July 2025 following a meeting at 10 Downing Street. According to a Guido Fawkes report, the business champions were told that their services were no longer required.

Scrogham is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for Australia, United Kingdom and United States of America (AUKUS) (chair) and defence and security sectors supporting local communities.

Scrogham delivered her maiden speech on 5 September 2024 during a debate on the Great British Energy Bill.

In it, she said: “I could not be prouder to be not only the first local to be elected as MP for Barrow and Furness, but the first ever female to hold this very privileged position.

“I started my career in banking way back in the ’80s, but found very quickly that my passion would take me elsewhere. With an insuppressible drive to call out injustice, my mouth soon ensured that I was elected as our union rep, and within a couple of years I was asked to take on that role for the north-west region.

“I will never forget how I felt when my manager took me aside to tell me that, if I accepted that responsibility, I could kiss goodbye to my career in banking. I did not need time to think about it; I took the job. There is nothing in this world more likely to make me dig my heels in than a bully.”

She added: “I have been incredibly lucky that I was able to take time out when my children were little and build a business on the high street with my sister. Those 20 years, through recessions, online shopping, out-of-town retail and covid, were a steep learning curve, but one that I would not change for the world.

“Our high streets are one of my passions. They are the very heart of our communities and Britain’s biggest employer – worthy of nurturing, protecting and revitalising. I very much welcome our plans and the opportunity to support them in this government.”

Before entering parliament, Scrogham was elected as a Labour councillor on Ulverston Town Council. She served as mayor of Ulverston from 2022 to 2024.

Political views

Leadership elections

Labour deputy leadership 2025: Scrogham 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

Labour Rural Research Group: Scrogham has been listed as a member of the Labour Rural Research Group (LRRG) – a caucus made up of MPs representing Labour’s so-called “rural wall”. Launched in August 2025, the group’s primary aim is to ensure that policy is developed with a clear understanding of the distinct challenges and priorities of rural and semi-rural communities.

The LRRG, chaired by the Suffolk Coastal MP Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, conducts research and consultations to challenge what it sees as a “rural blind spot” in Whitehall. Its first report, “Understanding Rural Britain”, surveyed voters on issues from healthcare and the economy to housing and the environment, seeking to build an evidence-based policy platform. The survey found nearly three quarters (74.4%) of respondents believe rural communities had been overlooked over the past 15 years. On the back of the report, Riddell-Carpenter stated that using the labelling rural voters as Nimbys (not in my back yard) was “toxic” and maintained “many people rightly despise the term”.

Living Standards Coalition: Scrogham 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.”

Welfare

Welfare vote (July 2025): Scrogham 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.

Assisted dying

Scrogham 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).

Before Politics

Scrogham was born in Ulverston in December 1970.

Scrogham’s career initially centred on banking, working at NatWest.

During this time, Scrogham became a trade union representative for the Banking, Insurance and Finance Union (BIFU). She served as chair of the BIFU North West for a period.

In 2005, she co-founded Pure, an independent clothing and fashion store in Ulverston town centre, with her sister.

Personal Life

Scrogham is married. Her husband, Graham Scrogham, succeeded her as mayor of Ulverston.

Trivia

Scrogham started her own clothing and fashion boutique business in 2005.