By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-09 18:00:45 | Updated at 2026-09-09 18:56:51
56 minutes ago
More than 40 Labour-held seats could be forced to take in more asylum seekers after Prime Minister Andy Burnham suggested affluent areas like Piddington should "play their part", a GB News investigation has revealed.
Mr Burnham, who is facing growing anger over his plan to house 1,250 migrants at MoD Bicester, told GB News last month that wealthier communities should help shoulder the burden by taking in more asylum seekers.
A GB News analysis has now ranked the 42 Labour seats that sit above Bicester & Woodstock, the constituency covering Piddington, on both median house prices of £390,000 and median weekly wages of £862.
Twenty-five affluent Labour-held seats are covered by local authorities which sit below their respective regional averages for supported asylum accommodation, including Altrincham & Sale West, Battersea, Beckenham & Penge, Bexleyheath & Crayford, Chelsea & Fulham, Cities of London & Westminster, Clapham & Brixton Hill and Earley & Woodley.
The list also includes Eltham & Chislehurst, Greenwich & Woolwich, Hammersmith & Chiswick, Hampstead & Highgate, Harrow West, Hertford & Stortford, Hitchin and Holborn & St Pancras.
It is completed by Islington South & Finsbury, Kensington & Bayswater, Lewisham North, Leyton & Wanstead, North East Hertfordshire, Putney, Tooting, Walthamstow and Watford.
The remaining 17 affluent Labour-held seats are covered by local authorities which sit above the regional average, including Bermondsey & Old Southwark, Bethnal Green & Stepney, Chipping Barnet, Dulwich & West Norwood, Ealing Central & Acton, Finchley & Golders Green and Hackney North & Stoke Newington.
The list of seats sitting above average also includes Hackney South & Shoreditch, Hornsey & Friern Barnet, Lewisham West & East Dulwich, Poplar & Limehouse, Reading West & Mid Berkshire, Stratford & Bow, Streatham & Croydon North, Uxbridge & South Ruislip, Vauxhall & Camberwell Green and Welwyn Hatfield.
Andy Burnham suggested affluent areas should take more migrants
PA
The People's Channel asked all 42 Labour MPs whether they would support their local communities doing more to house asylum seekers.
Neil Coyle, who represents Bermondsey & Old Southwark, was the only Labour MP to respond to GB News.
"We had one hostel and two hotels under the last Tory Government," Mr Coyle said.
"We are proud to do our part. Labour have now closed those hotels as part of its successful scheme to process people faster too."
The number of asylum seekers housed in supported accommodation across the 32 local authorities that cover the 42 Labour-held seats stands at approximately 10,108, recently released Home Office data has revealed.
However, the 32 local authorities also cover an additional 14 constituencies, with the Home Office's nationwide supported accommodation total hitting 93,293 in June 2026.
Protests have erupted across Piddington
GB NEWS
GB News understands some Labour MPs do not believe higher median wages and house prices equate to affluence.
However, other Labour MPs listed by GB News have been outspoken in wanting to provide more support to asylum seekers.
Diane Abbott, Catherine West, Emily Thornberry, Andy Slaughter, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Apsana Begum have all worked closely with pro-refugee organisations.
Ms Begum, whose constituency covers asylum hotels in Canary Wharf, responded to local protests by declaring: "Refugees are welcome here."
Meanwhile, Ms Abbott previously claimed it should be "easier for people to come" to the UK via safe and legal routes.
Diane Abbott stands with a 'refugees welcome here' poster
GETTY
Mr Slaughter proposed that every local authority should accept resettling refugees in 2015, adding: "If every region played their part, this would open up 10,000 spaces for vulnerable refugees within a month."
Pro-EU backbencher Stella Creasy, who visited migrant camps in Calais, also boasted about Walthamstow becoming a "borough of sanctuary".
GB News conducted its investigation after residents in Piddington staged a series of protests against Labour's plans to house migrants at MoD Bicester.
Locals have backed a symbolic independence referendum, children have written directly to Mr Burnham, and activists have released an AI-generated song opposing the proposed move.
Following GB News's migration investigation, Piddington local Ian Darby told The People's Channel: "I think the 42 more affluent Labour areas should definitely receive their quota of asylum seekers.
"I believe this should be based on population and the number of asylum seekers, so that there is a fair and equal distribution.
Labour MPs have written pro-refugee posts on social media
X/STELLA CREASY/APSANA BEGUM
"But I suspect that approach would force the Labour Party to review its whole strategy."
Mr Darby added: “Our position has always been that this would amount to a takeover of our village — 1,256 people compared with 350, with around ten times as many men as women.
"Those numbers are so disproportionate that it goes far beyond simply ‘playing our part’."
The arrival of migrants in Piddington, which the Home Office once said could exceed 3,500 as part of a now “outdated” risk assessment, would take Cherwell near the top of the list of local authorities providing supported accommodation to asylum seekers.
Cherwell, which is home to around 170,000 people, would only miss out on the top spot to Glasgow, where 3,938 migrants settled among an overall population of 654,330 as of June 2026.
However, even accommodating 1,250 migrants would propel Cherwell near the top of the list, rivalling both Wigan and Leicester near 10th spot.
However, the Prime Minister is hoping to push ahead with plans to house 1,250 migrants at MoD Bicester and defended the decision by insisting affluent areas needed to take their fair share.
Speaking to GB News last month, Mr Burnham said: "I have begun to become aware of the campaign from Piddington, and I will listen to what people are saying and respond to the concerns that they are putting forward.
"I don't know the issue yet in detail, but in some ways, as I understand it, it is about creating secure space and not have the HMO issues that you were talking about earlier.
"It's obviously going to be challenging, but I am prepared always to listen to people, to work with people and to pick up legitimate concerns, and I will address those concerns.
"I do have to say we cannot have a situation where it's only the poorest communities in the country that receive all of the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers.
"I do believe all parts of the country need to work, to play their part. It's a challenging issue.
"We're working at it, we understand people's concerns, and I will look into the issues raised by the good people of Piddington."
Andy Burnham suggested the GB News that more affluent areas need to accept more migrants
A consultation period will now run until September 17, with the Home Office submitting an urgent planning application to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government on September 2.
The Home Office is searching for alternative accommodation as it pushes to end the use of migrant hotels by 2029.
The number of asylum seekers housed in hotels has already been slashed to 16,000, down from a peak of 56,000 in September 2023.
Meanwhile, the number of hotels in use has fallen from a peak of 400 to fewer than 160.
However, GB News's investigation also tracked the Tory and Liberal Democrat seats that meet Mr Burnham's "Piddington test".
Kemi Badenoch's own seat of North West Essex ranked as more affluent than Bicester & Woodstock, with 22 other Tory-held constituencies making the list.
The full map of seats impacted by the Prime Minister's 'Piddington test'
GB NEWS
The Conservative list also includes Beaconsfield, Brentwood & Ongar, Bromley & Biggin Hill, Broxbourne, Chingford & Woodford Green, Croydon South, East Hampshire, East Surrey, Epping Forest, Farnham & Bordon, Godalming & Ash, Hertsmere, Hornchurch & Upminster, Old Bexley & Sidcup, Orpington, Reigate, Ruislip, Northwood & Pinner, Runnymede & Weybridge, Sevenoaks, South West Hertfordshire, Spelthorne, and Tatton.
Meanwhile, 20 Liberal Democrat MPs could soon be forced to accommodate even more asylum seekers.
GB News found that Chesham & Amersham, Didcot & Wantage, Dorking & Horley, Epsom & Ewell, Esher & Walton, Guildford, Harpenden & Berkhamsted, Henley & Thame, Horsham, Kingston & Surbiton, Maidenhead, North East Hampshire, Richmond Park, South Cambridgeshire, St Albans, Surrey Heath, Tunbridge Wells, Twickenham, Wimbledon and Wokingham are all more affluent than Bicester & Woodstock.
Reform UK MP Andrew Rosindell's constituency of Romford also made the list, with Mr Corbyn's seat of Islington North also ranked above Bicester & Woodstock.
A Home Office spokesman told GB News: "The concerns of communities are central to our immigration reforms. That is why we are closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites.
"We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, engaging with local authorities to reduce the impact on communities, and we have saved taxpayers over £1billion on asylum support costs since the election."
