Paula Barker.

One of Labour's most conspicuous rebels on welfare, Paula Barker voted three times against her own government during committee stage of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in July 2025 — opposing cuts to disability-related benefits for new claimants, and backing amendments to protect people with fluctuating conditions such as Parkinson's and MS. She also wrote publicly in the Big Issue explaining why she could not support the cuts, and broke ranks again in March 2026 by voting against the government's tuition fee rise. A 98.4% party-line voter overall, her deviations cluster tightly around welfare: her voting record on disability benefit cuts and welfare protection sits roughly 60 percentage points above the Labour average.

Beyond those flashpoints, Barker is an active parliamentarian. Her 86% participation rate is solid, and she has made 112 contributions across 72 debates, with social care, the economy and jobs, and defence topping her speech topics. She votes consistently with Labour on workers' rights and progressive taxation, but scores low on alignment with parliamentary and Lords scrutiny, suggesting she backs the executive when welfare is not at stake. She stood in Labour's 2025 deputy leadership contest, arguing the party should not chase Reform on its own ground.

Barker sits on the Committee of Privileges and the Committee on Standards — roles that carry formal responsibility for MPs' conduct and ethics. Recent news coverage over the past 90 days has centred on culture and heritage issues rather than her main political preoccupations, so the picture of her recent local casework is limited. Older coverage highlights her championing of rent controls and Liverpool's council funding, consistent with the social care and housing themes that run through her speech record.