Chris Webb entered Parliament through a standards scandal he had no part in creating. The sitting Conservative MP, Scott Benton, resigned after the Commons Standards Committee found that he had offered to lobby ministers and disclose confidential information for payment. Webb, already Labour's candidate, won the May 2024 by-election on a 26-point swing. Turnout was only 32.5 per cent, but the result became one of the clearest warnings that Rishi Sunak was heading for defeat.

He secured the seat again at the general election two months later. Reform UK took almost 29 per cent, evidence that the anger which removed the Conservatives had not produced settled loyalty to Labour.

Webb received no government position. His influence came from representing one of England's poorest coastal towns, organising public campaigns and occasionally making the government fear a backbench revolt.

What he stands for

Child poverty is the clearest thread through his politics. He has argued for higher family incomes, cheaper infant formula and greater spending in places where poor health, insecure employment and low wages reinforce one another.

He proved willing to confront his own government over welfare. In March 2025 he became the first Labour MP from the new 2024 intake to condemn its proposed disability-benefit cuts publicly, describing their likely effect on Blackpool as "devastating" and saying they were not in Labour's manifesto.

He then voted against the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill in July, even after ministers had removed its proposed restrictions on Personal Independence Payment. Webb was among 49 Labour MPs who opposed the Bill at second reading. That was independent judgement exercised at a political cost, not a routine expression of concern.

His other priorities have been coastal regeneration, cleaner bathing water and lower taxes for tourism and hospitality. These positions fit Blackpool's economy, but most remained demands rather than delivered policy.

What he actually delivered

Webb's infant-formula campaign produced his strongest result.

After raising evidence that parents were watering down formula, missing feeds or searching online for opened containers, he secured clarification from the Department of Health that food banks could supply infant formula in emergencies. Manufacturers and retailers subsequently provided almost three million individual feeds through food banks and community organisations.

He worked with the Feed charity, Metro and a petition signed by more than 100,000 people. In December 2025 the government accepted changes allowing parents to use loyalty rewards and vouchers for formula and promised clearer information to stop families assuming that expensive brands were nutritionally superior. Ministers estimated that choosing cheaper products could save parents up to £500 a year.

Credit was shared. The Competition and Markets Authority had investigated the market and developed the detailed recommendations, including price comparisons, clearer information and changes to voucher rules. Webb's contribution was to turn a regulatory study into political pressure and keep the issue in front of ministers. That is a legitimate backbench achievement.

He also campaigned for the abolition of the two-child benefit limit. The government eventually legislated to remove it from Universal Credit from 6 April 2026, estimating that 450,000 children would leave poverty by the end of the Parliament. Webb supported and pressed for the policy, but he was one voice in a much larger Labour and charity campaign. He did not create the legislation.

What he did not deliver

Webb has claimed to have secured more than £150 million for Blackpool. The total bundles together decisions made by departments, the council and national funding programmes. Blackpool's road allocation, for example, came through a published formula, while the neighbourhood award was one of 25 national allocations worth up to £20 million over ten years.

The money was real. The evidence does not show that Webb personally secured the whole amount.

His call for a permanent 12.5 per cent VAT rate for tourism and hospitality was not adopted. The government instead introduced a temporary 5 per cent rate for selected family attractions, children's tickets and children's meals between June and September 2026. Accommodation and most hospitality remained at the standard rate.

Nor did his campaigning produce cleaner local bathing water. By 2026, he acknowledged that Blackpool South and Central remained rated "sufficient" while Blackpool North remained "poor".

Capability

Webb has shown that a backbencher can build a campaign with charities, newspapers, regulators and affected families, then extract a practical change from government. He also opposed his party when its welfare plans conflicted with the poverty agenda on which he had campaigned.

His weaker habit is claiming collective or formula-based public spending as money he personally secured. That inflates his delivery record.

The evidence supports Webb as an effective constituency campaigner with some independence from the Labour leadership. The formula campaign brought a concrete result. He has not controlled a public body, run a department or delivered a major regeneration programme, so there is no basis for claiming proven administrative ability.