Labour MP for Ealing Central and Acton, Dr Rupa Huq, has said she is surprised to see her name included on a list of Labour MPs backing Prime Minister Keir Starmer, amid growing speculation over his leadership.
Reports on Tuesday (12 May 2026) said more than 100 Labour MPs had signed a statement backing Starmer and against any leadership challenge.
But Dr Huq publicly has questioned why her name had appeared on the list.
Posting on X, she said: “Surprised to see my name on this list when I haven’t either signed any letter supporting the PM or called for the PM to go??
“Not very courteous of colleagues to put names down without their approval.”
The comments came after political journalist Aubrey Allegretti shared details of the letter and signatories on social media, which included Dr Huq’s name.
The letter said: “Last week we had a devastatingly tough set of election results. It shows we have a hard job ahead to win back trust from the electorate.
“That job needs to start today – with all of us working together to deliver the change the country needs. We must focus on that. This is no time for a leadership contest.”
The published signatories were listed as: Jack Abbott, Luke Akehurst, Bayo Alaba, Callum Anderson, Catherine Atkinson, Calvin Bailey, Alex Baker, Antonia Bance, Alex Barros-Curtis, Johanna Baxter, Rachel Blake, Kevin Bonavia, Sureena Brackenridge, Phil Brickell, David Burton-Sampson, Ruth Cadbury, Juliet Campbell, Bambos Charalambous, Ben Coleman, Tom Collins, Liam Conlon, Pam Cox, Neil Coyle, Jonathan Davies, Shaun Davies, Jim Dickson, Helena Dollimore, Maria Eagle, Clive Efford, Kirith Entwistle, Chris Evans, Linsey Farnsworth, Patricia Ferguson, Natalie Fleet, Catherine Fookes, Daniel Francis, Allison Gardner, Anna Gelderd, Gill German, Preet Kaur Gill, Becky Gittins, Nia Griffith, Amanda Hack, Fabian Hamilton, Carolyn Harris, Lloyd Hatton, Tom Hayes, Claire Hazelgrove, Alison Hume, Rupa Huq, Patrick Hurley, Gerald Jones, Sojan Joseph, Warinder Juss, Chris Kane, Jayne Kirkham, Sonia Kumar, Laura Kyrke-Smith, Noah Law, Andrew Lewin, Alice Macdonald, Alex Mayer, Douglas McAllister, Lola McAvoy, Kerry McCarthy, Julie Minns, Perran Moon, Luke Murphy, Chris Murray, Josh Newbury, Samantha Niblett, Abena Oppong-Asare, Tristan Osborne, Andrew Pakes, Michael Payne, Jonathan Pearce, Toby Perkins, David Pinto-Duschinsky, Joe Powell, Peter Prinsley, Richard Quigley, Jenny Riddle-Carpenter, Tim Roca, Matt Rodda, Sam Rushworth, Oli Ryan, Michelle Scrogham, Mark Sewards, Baggy Shanker, Tulip Siddiq, Andy Slaughter, John Slinger, Nick Smith, Alistair Strathern, Alan Strickland, Lauren Sullivan, Kirsteen Sullivan, Peter Swallow, Alison Taylor, David Taylor, Jess Toale, Matthew Turmaine, Liz Twist, Valerie Vaz, Chris Vince, Michelle Welsh, Matt Western, John Whitby, Sean Woodcock, Steve Yemm, Daniel Zeichner and Mary Glindon.
