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The Tribune group of Labour MPs has now reached more than 100 members, PoliticsHome understands, making it one of the largest organised groupings in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).

As it plans for the year ahead, Tribune is positioning itself as a “progressive left alliance for policy development”, which it hopes to be able to feed into government.

Labour MPs Beccy Cooper and Yuan Yang, who both sit on the executive of the Tribune group, said in an interview with PoliticsHome that the group will be running campaign days across the country in the run-up to the May elections, deliberately targeting seats where both Reform UK and the Green Party are the main challengers.

Yang warned that MPs now face “multiple different threats” at once, arguing Labour must adapt its campaigning accordingly.

“We’re going to try to bring as many MPs along as possible, and just show each other that solidarity, especially in seats that are facing a difficult battle on their hands,” she said, explaining that it was also important to party members to see their MPs put on a united front on the ground in marginal seats.

The Tribune caucus of Labour MPs was originally formed in 1966 as a left-wing forum. It was reformed in 2005 as a backbench group of centre-left and moderate MPs, and is now being revived by former cabinet minister Louise Haigh, former government whip Vicky Foxcroft, and multiple MPs from the 2024 intake, including Yang and Cooper. While the full list of members is not public, PoliticsHome understands it includes multiple cabinet ministers.

After a tumultuous year for the Labour Party, in which there were backbench rebellions over proposed welfare reforms and inheritance tax changes for farmers, the Tribune MPs told PoliticsHome that they want the group to be a space for “finding consensus”.

Yang described it as a “safe space” for like-minded Labour MPs to thrash out ideas, which she said was particularly helpful for many of the MPs in the large 2024 intake who did not know anyone in Westminster before being elected.

An MP-triggered leadership challenge in the Labour Party requires a challenger to secure nominations from 20 per cent of Labour MPs – around 81 MPs currently. 

However, Cooper insisted the group “exists within the PLP” and is not a breakaway faction, rejecting any suggestion it is positioning itself against the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“We’re just bringing additional thoughts, additional expertise, to the table,” Cooper said.

“We want to vote on the government legislature and move that forward. And just being informed and enhancing and bringing depth to the issues of the day.”

Cooper added that the group intends to take forward “reasonable, pragmatic” policy proposals that can make a “real difference” in government. Last year, the Tribune Labour MPs campaigned to end the two-child benefit cap – a demand finally met in the Autumn Budget.

Asked what policies the group will campaign on next, Yang and Cooper said the group was still in the early stages of developing its policy platform. 

“MPs run really fast, politics runs really fast,” Cooper said.

“One of my observations is that it would be great to have more space where we sit and go, hang on a second. What are the consequences of doing that now? What happens 10 years down the line?

“The political cycles are such that puts pressure on us not to do that. I would really love for Tribune to hold some of that space… that would be an excellent addition to government.”

Yang agreed, adding: “We have to be a group where we can discuss the big existential problems. If we can’t do that, then we’re not meeting our responsibility as a group.”

The Tribune MPs come from different areas of experience: Cooper worked as a doctor before being elected, Yang was previously an economics journalist, and members Sarah Owen and Debbie Abrahams chair the Women and Equalities Committee and the Work and Pensions Committee respectively. 

Cooper said she hopes to push policies around population health and promote an approach of “health in all policies”, arguing that measures in all departments – including the Treasury – should be assessed through a health lens.

She said she expects Tribune MPs to scrutinise the government’s NHS 10-year strategy and SEND white paper, with members feeding in views from their constituency consultations.

Yang said she would like the group to look at the UK’s growth model, arguing that recent growth has “accrued to a small number of people”, fuelling inequality and asset price inflation.

She said Tribune MPs broadly agree “something isn’t quite working” for many residents, pointing to exploitative property management fees on new-build estates in her own constituency as an example of everyday economic extraction that a Labour government should confront.

With the group having expanded its membership in recent months, they have big hopes for 2026. 

Cooper said she would like to see the group taking “reasonable, pragmatic” positions that are “useful for the government” – “I’d like those to be visible, and that Tribune is seen as making a real difference.”

Yang framed her ambitions a little differently: “I hope we have a lot of engaged members coming to our 60th anniversary bash, whatever form it is, and having a great time!”