Meet the Labour MP pushing Andy Burnham to stop the boats and listen to GB News viewers

An Oxford-educated former Metropolitan Police inspector who champions free speech and opposes rejoining the EU is not what many GB News viewers would expect from a Labour MP.

Blue Labour's new leader Jonathan Hinder is making a name for himself after winning his home seat of Pendle & Clitheroe in 2024.

While Labour looks set to reignite its Brexit civil war and ties itself in knots over trans rights, Mr Hinder is pushing Andy Burnham to address the concerns of the Red Wall.

"We're the part of the party that is reminding Labour what we were originally for and what we're supposed to represent: a working-class, socialist party," Mr Hinder told GB News.

"It's not the fault of any one leader or any one faction, but it is fair to say that we've drifted away from that over recent decades.

"Our voter base has become much more dominated by metropolitan graduates living in the cities, the so-called progressive activists, and many working-class people don't see us as the party for them.

"We're here to say: 'Remember what our principles are, we are a socialist party, we have those left-wing economic principles, but we're also common sense on crime, patriotism and immigration.'"

Blue Labour began life as a brains trust built around the Brexit-backing Labour peer Lord Maurice Glasman in the final days of Gordon Brown's Government.

The parliamentary group, which was led by Liverpool Walton MP Dan Carden after being formed in January 2025, now numbers just over 10 Labour MPs, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

For Mr Hinder, the battle is personal, with the seat where he grew up at the foot of Pendle Hill sitting on the frontline of Labour's Red Wall fight with Nigel Farage.

Pendle voted by 63 per cent to leave the EU in 2016 and polls now suggest Mr Hinder's razor-thin 902-vote majority might not be enough to stop Reform UK.

Perhaps the biggest issue in the minds of those ex-Labour voters today is immigration.

Mr Hinder, who told a free speech fringe event that the vast majority of Britons are not racist for being concerned about migration, admits some of his colleagues have been "too squeamish" about it for a long time.

He said: "I always say, if Reform didn't have immigration, what would they have left?

"They haven't got a lot, they've not got a serious political economy analysis of how our economy should be reshaped, and they're actually right-wing libertarians in their economic outlook."

While Mr Burnham mentioned the migrant crisis 10 times in his maiden conference speech as Prime Minister, the King of the North wanted to attack the architects of Brexit rather than set out when the boats will stop.

He also defended Labour's position by pointing out that small boat arrivals are down 40 per cent compared to last year.

However, 6,666 small boat migrants have arrived on British shores since Mr Burnham came to power 71 days ago, taking the total under Labour's watch to 84,375.

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Having publicly called on Sir Keir Starmer to resign and branded him "tone deaf" for focusing on Brexit after May's local elections disaster, Mr Hinder appears to be giving Mr Burnham the benefit of the doubt for now, but the Blue Labour chief also wants action.

"If you listen to some of the things the Prime Minister says, it's very much in line with the Blue Labour agenda," Mr Hinder said.

"When he talks about reindustrialisation, public ownership, regional inequality, and the country being too dominated by London, he's backed Shabana Mahmood by making her Home Secretary. And all of that is encouraging.

"The only reason that I would be cautiously optimistic rather than cock-a-hoop is that we have heard these kinds of themes used as a rhetorical tool before, including in 2024."

But many of Mr Hinder's Labour colleagues continue to pursue a liberal social agenda.

A dozen Labour MPs rallied in solidarity with the trans community ahead of Mr Burnham's keynote speech.

Ahead of the rally, Mr Hinder asked: "What kind of socialist protests against women organising collectively within their own political party?"

Back in Westminster, the newly married 35-year-old is working with his Conservative counterpart, Rebecca Paul, to persuade the Labour Government to block children taking part in a puberty blockers trial.

The trial, which would involve 226 children under the age of 16, is something Mr Hinder feels very strongly about.

"It's an ethical question as far as I'm concerned," Mr Hinder explained.

"It's not a party-political matter and because I felt so strongly, I'm very happy to work with people across the political spectrum to try and oppose that.

"I actually think when most people in this country hear about it, they are appalled. So I've got no qualms with speaking my mind repeatedly and trying to get this stopped."

And Mr Hinder wants Blue Labour to push the Prime Minister to win over GB News viewers.

In a direct message to The People's Channel, Mr Hinder said: "I always talk about wanting a stronger state, not a bigger state.

"I want a state that can actually get stuff done, and I think one of the reasons why voters, particularly those that might watch GB News, might have been frustrated with us over the years, is that they don't see them as able to actually execute the plans.

"Whether it's on the planning system, where we can't get that economic development, or the web of laws on immigration that mean we can't tackle the small boats issue, I think that spans both immigration and the economy.

"If we can show people that politics actually matters, then maybe we'll rebuild that trust."