Prime Minister Keir Starmer has suspended four Labour MPs after they defied party orders and voted against the government’s controversial welfare reform bill earlier this month.

Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman, Chris Hinchliff, and Rachael Maskell have all had the Labour whip withdrawn and will now serve as independent MPs in the House of Commons.

The move follows a significant backbench rebellion in which 47 Labour MPs opposed the bill, which includes proposed cuts to benefits for disabled and sick individuals as part of a broader plan to reduce welfare spending by £5 billion ($6.7 billion) by the end of the decade.

The rebellion marks a fresh challenge to Starmer’s authority, which has already been tested by recent policy U-turns, including the reinstatement of the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners.

In addition to the suspensions, three more MPs — Rosena Allin-Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, and Mohammed Yasin — were stripped of their roles as trade envoys for also voting against the bill.

At the height of the unrest, more than 120 Labour MPs were prepared to block the legislation, raising fears of a potential defeat for the government. In response, ministers introduced major concessions to win over dissenting members, ultimately allowing a revised, diluted version of the bill to pass through Parliament.

Since taking office, Starmer has moved to tighten party discipline. Earlier in the term, seven Labour MPs were suspended for opposing the government on another welfare issue — the two-child benefit cap.

One of those MPs, Zarah Sultana, has since left the party and recently announced plans to form a new political group alongside former Labour leader and now independent MP Jeremy Corbyn. Photo by UK Parliament, Wikimedia commons.