Cat Eccles.

Cat Eccles has broken with Labour five times since entering Parliament — a notable rebellious streak for a 96.8% party-line voter. Her most significant defections came in July 2025, when she backed two amendments to the Universal Credit and PIP Bill that would have extended protections to people with fluctuating conditions such as Parkinson's and MS. She also voted against the government's tuition fee rise in March 2026, opposed new planning delegation regulations that remove elected councillors from smaller housing decisions, and — most recently — voted against the Immigration and Asylum Bill at Second Reading in July 2026. Taken together, the pattern points to consistent concern for welfare protection and local democratic accountability over party instruction.

Her voting data underscores this. Eccles sits 65 percentage points below her party on welfare reform and 59 points above it on protecting disability benefits — the starkest deviations in her profile. She scores 100% on progressive taxation and 95% on workers' rights, suggesting her rebellion is selective rather than broadly oppositional. Participation at 54% is below the Commons average, though this figure can reflect committee work and constituency duties rather than disengagement. Economy, health, social care, and local government dominate her 96 parliamentary contributions.

Outside the chamber, recent local coverage — on grooming investigation calls, high street business rates raised at PMQs, and a Purple Paw domestic violence campaign — shows active constituency work, though recent news sentiment scores are broadly neutral. She holds no select committee seat, which limits her formal parliamentary influence for now. Voting data is available from her election in July 2024; speech and news records extend through mid-2026.