Patrick Hurley is the Labour MP for Southport, having first been elected to parliament at the 2024 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Hurley received 17,252 votes (38.3%). The Conservative candidate, Damien Moore, received 11,463 votes (25.4%), while the Reform UK candidate, Andrew Lynn, secured 7,395 votes (16.4%). Hurley was elected with a majority of 5,789 votes.

The Southport constituency is located in Merseyside, North West England. The seat, which has existed since 1885, was represented by either Conservative or Liberal/Liberal Democrat MPs throughout its history. Between 1997 and 2017, the seat was held by the Liberal Democrats.

Hurley’s immediate predecessor as the MP for Southport was Damien Moore of the Conservative Party. Moore represented the seat from 2017 to 2024.

Political Career

Hurley was elected to parliament shortly before the Southport stabbings at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club took place in his constituency. In the wake of the attack, Hurley laid flowers on the street of the attack alongside the home secretary, Yvette Cooper.

The attack triggered riots throughout the country. At the time, Hurley condemned the rioting as the result of “propaganda and lies” circulated on social media.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “These were thugs who got the train in, these were not the people from Southport.

“They were using the horrific incident on Monday, the deaths of three little kiddies, for their own political purposes and actually to attack the very same first responders and the very same police, who had been on the scene on Monday, were then being pelted with bricks the day after by these thugs.”

In September 2024, Hurley addressed those who “continue to propagate the lie that the thuggery we saw came from justifiable concerns” in the House of Commons.

In January 2025, Hurley responded to a government statement on the Southport attack, which followed Axel Rudakubana pleading guilty to murdering Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe.

Hurley criticised the promulgation of “downright lies that were being circulated in the interests of political gain, with the interests of justice a distant second.” He went on to call for a public inquiry to “undertake its work and make its recommendations free of the ridiculous nonsense and lies that we have seen from public figures who should know better and which have been circulating purely for their own interests.”

In February 2025, Hurley referred to the “failures of the Prevent [counter-terrorism] programme between 2019 and 2024” in apparently missing opportunities to intervene.

In January 2026, Hurley 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.”

In November 2025, Hurley was one of 34 cross-party MPs and peers who signed a letter to Ofcom demanding an investigation into the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The letter, led by Joani Reid, chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on antisemitism, called on the regulator to determine whether the platform was in breach of its legal duties under the Online Safety Act following a reported surge in antisemitic content and calls for violence against Jews on X.

In October 2024, Hurley launched a campaign to cut the price of Freddo chocolate bars to 5p.

In a social media post, Hurley said he was inspired to launch the campaign after the idea was voiced by a group of students.

He stated: “I was asked to launch a petition to bring the price of a Freddo back down to 5 pence. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but I think that’s a great idea for a petition. 20 pence for a Freddo is too much, especially in a cost of living crisis.”

Hurley is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for Northern culture (chair), coastal communities, future of work and mutuals.

Hurley delivered his maiden speech on 17 July 2024 during a debate on the king’s speech.

In it, he said: “The politics that I believe in is a politics of the common good – a politics where each of us looks out for the wellbeing of the other, rather than tries to do others down.

“I will work to ensure that our country’s new government will not look to cause divisions with our neighbours, whether they be other countries thousands of miles away or even other towns just a few thousand yards away.”

He added: “The new government’s priority on economic growth is entirely the right approach. Unless we get the trend rate of growth back to pre-2008 levels, our task in this parliament of reducing poverty will be much harder.”

Before entering parliament, Hurley served as a Labour councillor on Liverpool City Council from 2011 to 2023.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Oppose leadership election: In May 2026, Hurley 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: Hurley 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 Growth Group: Hurley has been listed as a member of the Labour Growth Group (LGG) – a vocal faction of backbenchers committed to ensuring economic growth remains the central mission of the government. The group, largely composed of MPs from the 2024 intake, positions itself as the voice of “the builders, not the blockers” and provides organised support for ministers taking on politically difficult decisions in the name of economic expansion.

In an open letter addressed to Keir Starmer, issued upon the group’s founding in July 2024, LGG MPs said it was imperative that “the government grasps the nettle and goes for growth”.

They added: “This absolutely has to start with the sweeping planning reforms to get Britain building again. Under the Tories, planning permissions for new homes hit record lows and housebuilding cratered. Indeed, not once in their 14 years in power did the Conservatives meet their housing targets.

“Energy and transport projects were promised but not built. That’s why we are writing to you to make clear that it’s in the national interest to start delivering on our manifesto promise, including 1.5 million more homes across this parliament at the earliest opportunity.

“A failure to act will not be forgiven by the public. Britain has a housing crisis and a huge infrastructure deficit – without strong and immediate action, this will only worsen.”

Living Standards Coalition: Hurley 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.”

Electoral reform

Fair elections APPG: Hurley is listed as a supporter 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.

Electoral reform amendment: In May 2026, Hurley was one of over 70 Labour MPs who signed an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill, calling on the government to establish a “national commission on electoral reform”. Tabled by Alex Sobel as chair of the fair elections APPG, the amendment aimed to force a rethink of the first past the post voting system.

At the time, Sobel described FPTP as “one of the biggest examples of a broken status quo in UK politics.” He invited colleagues to join this “common sense call to take a fresh look at how parliament is elected in modern Britain.”

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Hurley voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Welfare

Welfare ‘reasoned amendment’ (June 2025): Hurley 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.

Welfare vote (July 2025): Hurley 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

Hurley 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).

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Hurley voted against 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.

Hurley was one of 25 Labour MPs to vote against the amendment.

Before Politics

Born Patrick Brian Hurley in 1976 in Prescot, Merseyside, he has described himself as a “working-class bloke from the North West”.

Hurley co-founded and served as director of the Ethos Magazine.

In 2014, he founded Liverpool SOUP, a community crowdfunding organisation.

Hurley also worked as the area manager (North of England) for the RSA (the Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Personal Life

Hurley lives in his Southport constituency. He is married.

Shortly before the 2024 general election campaign, Hurley required life-saving surgery after experiencing symptoms initially mistaken for indigestion.

He said: “I was campaigning in the new estate in the Kew area of Southport two weeks ago. I had woken up with what I thought was indigestion, which had got worse through the day.

“At around 5pm the pain was so bad that I collapsed in the street. It was intolerable. I literally collapsed and had to just sit on the pavement. I couldn’t really move.”

Trivia

Hurley is the first Labour MP to represent Southport in parliament.