Around half of Labour welfare rebels have majorities smaller than the number of benefit claimaints in their constituencies
Around half of Labour MPs who are planning to rebel over welfare cuts have majorities smaller than the number of benefit claimants in their constituencies.
Sir Keir Starmer faces the biggest rebellion of his premiership next week after more than 125 Labour MPs publicly declared they will vote against flagship legislation.
They have vowed to oppose the second reading of the Government's welfare bill in the House of Commons, as the PM seeks to save £5billion in benefits spending.
The Labour MPs are furious at planned changes that would restrict access to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and cut the health element of Universal Credit.
It has been estimated that 800,000 people will be denied the 'daily living' component of PIP - the main disability benefit - by 2029/30 due to a tightening of rules.
This includes even if they struggle to wash or dress below the waist.
An analysis shows, of 114 Labour rebels from constituencies in England and Wales, 63 hold majorities smaller than the number of PIP claimaints in their local areas.
For example, Debbie Abrahams - one of the rebel ringleaders - won her Oldham East and Saddleworth seat with a 6,357-vote majority at last July's general election.
As of April this year, there were a total of 8,392 PIP claimants in her constituency.
Paulette Hamilton, the Birmingham Erdington MP and another leading rebel, has 11,899 PIP recipients in the constituency she won with a 7,019-vote majority.
It suggests, despite No10's efforts to get them to back down, Labour rebels might be unwilling to do so due to their fears of infuriating local voters.
Voters' at the axing of winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners - which Sir Keir has since partially U-turned on - was blamed for Labour's poor local election results last month.
Large numbers of Labour MPs are also worried about Reform UK's surge in popularity since the general election.
Polls show many now appear to be at risk of losing their seats to Nigel Farage's party.
A huge YouGov survey showed, if a general election were held today, Reform would see a stunning rise from five MPs to 271.
At the same time, Labour would drop from the 403 MPs it currently has to just 178.
The Tories would plummet to just 46 MPs, making them the fourth-biggest party well behind the Liberal Democrats on 81.
Sir Keir is holding talks with Labour rebels over concessions to save the Government's welfare reform package.
The PM told the House of Commons on Thursday he wanted the reforms to demonstrate 'Labour values of fairness'.
He told MPs there was 'consensus across the House on the urgent need for reform' of the 'broken' welfare system.
'I know colleagues across the House are eager to start fixing that, and so am I, and that all colleagues want to get this right, and so do I,' he said.
'We want to see reform implemented with Labour values of fairness.
'That conversation will continue in the coming days, so we can begin making change together on Tuesday.'
The Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill has its second reading on Tuesday, the first opportunity for MPs to vote on it.
If the legislation clears its first hurdle, it will then face a few hours' examination by all MPs the following week – rather than days or weeks in front of a committee tasked with looking at the bill – with a plan for it to clear the Commons a little over a week later on July 9.
Ministers have said they will listen to suggestions to improve the legislation, but opposition appears entrenched and the swift timetable for the bill could add to critics' concerns.
Who are the Labour rebels?
Meg Hillier
Debbie Abrahams
Helen Hayes
Sarah Owen
Florence Eshalomi
Paulette Hamilton
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi
Cat Smith
Ruth Cadbury
Patricia Ferguson
Ruth Jones
Louise Haigh
Vicky Foxcroft
Olivia Blake
Anneliese Midgley
Antonia Bance
Laurence Turner
Anna Dixon
Dawn Butler
Yuan Yang
Richard Baker
Kirsteen Sullivan
Lee Barron
Jonathan Brash
Stella Creasy
Ben Coleman
Clive Betts
Matt Bishop
Sadik Al-Hassan
Abtisam Mohamed
Lee Pitcher
Lauren Edwards
Tony Vaughan
Connor Naismith
Matt Western
Paul Davies
Charlotte Nichols
Kate Osamor
Chris Webb
Josh Fenton-Glynn
Sarah Hall
Scott Arthur
Tracy Gilbert
Gill Furniss
Dr Beccy Cooper
Adam Jogee
Maya Ellis
Alison Hume
Daniel Francis
Jo Platt
Patrick Hurley
Kirith Entwistle
Henry Tufnell
Darren Paffey
Yasmin Qureshi
Mohammad Yasin
Peter Lamb
Elaine Stewart
Allison Gardner
Lillian Jones
Marsha De Cordova
Kevin McKenna
Clive Efford
Lizzi Collinge
Melanie Onn
Andrew Cooper
Fabian Hamilton
Polly Billington
David Williams
Richard Quigley
Marie Rimmer
Sam Rushworth
Rosena Allin-Khan
Emma Lewell
Richard Burgon
Kate Osborne
Rachael Maskell
Amanda Hack
Rebecca Long Bailey
Bell Ribeiro-Addy
Paula Barker
Cat Eccles
Jon Trickett
Simon Opher
Ian Lavery
Neil Duncan-Jordan
Chris Hinchliff
Ian Byrne
Nadia Whittome
Diane Abbott
Kim Johnson
Andy McDonald
Brian Leishman
Imran Hussain
Euan Stainbank
Lorraine Beavers
Steve Witherden
Mary Kelly Foy
Clive Lewis
Jen Craft
James Naish
Terry Jermy
Grahame Morris
Navendu Mishra
Jenny Riddell-Carpenter
Tahir Ali
Dave Robertson
Josh Newbury
Paul Foster
Andrew Ranger
Danny Beales
Luke Myer
Margaret Mullane
Naz Shah
Josh Dean
Martin Rhodes
Afzal Khan
Maureen Burke
Chris Evans
Alex Sobel
Irene Campbell
Gareth Snell
Mary Glindon
Sarah Edwards
Pam Cox
Toby Perkins
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