Leeds Central and Headingley.

Sobel made headlines in July 2025 when he broke with Labour to back amendments protecting disabled people during the welfare reform debate -- voting for greater safeguards for fluctuating-condition claimants and inflation-linked Universal Credit uplifts in Northern Ireland, both rejected by the government. He had earlier defied the party whip three times on the assisted dying bill, backing amendments to strengthen the legislation at Report Stage. His stance on assisted dying sits 51 percentage points above his parliamentary colleagues' average, making him one of Labour's most consistent supporters of the bill. Away from Parliament, he raised an urgent question after crossbow attacks in Leeds's student district, publicly called a government fee levy on universities "stupid" at conference, and co-signed a letter to Sky over job losses affecting local workers.

At 65% participation -- below the Commons average -- Sobel is not the most active voter, but he votes with Labour 98.5% of the time outside his welfare and assisted dying rebellions. His speeches lean heavily on economy and jobs (63 contributions) and defence (61), with consistent support for workers' rights and progressive taxation. He scores low on pro-business and pro-parliamentary-scrutiny measures and sits well below the Labour average on criminal justice reform. As co-chair of the deforestation APPG, he has pushed publicly for bans on deforestation-linked imports and written in the Guardian on health deprivation in Leeds.

Sobel holds no current select committee seat, limiting his formal scrutiny role. His recent 90-day news coverage skews toward local government and environment, with broadly neutral sentiment across 19 articles. Stance data is drawn from available recorded votes; gaps in participation mean some positions may be underrepresented.