Kate Hoey facing deselection after Labour activists pass 'no confidence' motion over Brexit stance
3 min read
Brexit-backing Labour MP Kate Hoey is facing deselection after party members in her constituency passed a motion of no confidence in her.
Activists in Vauxhall, south west London, called for the Labour whip to be withdrawn from the controversial MP, who campaigned for Vote Leave during the EU referendum.
They also said she should be made "ineligible for re-selection or endorsement as a Labour party parliamentary candidate".
Ms Hoey, who has been MP for the area since 1989 and was re-elected last year with a majority of more than 20,000, has consistently voted with the Government on Brexit.
Earlier this month, she was one of four Labour MPs who effectively saved Theresa May's job by helping the Government defeat an attempt to force Britain to sign up to a customs union with the EU.
Vauxhall Constituency Labour Party confirmed on its Twitter account on Thursday night that Ms Hoey had been censured.
The CLP motion said: "In June 2017 Kate Hoey was elected on a manifesto which explicitly rejected Theresa May’s approach to Brexit and pledged in a letter to constituents that she endorsed Labour’s plans.
"This CLP censures Kate Hoey MP for repeatedly reneging on those commitments, and ignoring the clearly stated views of her constituents and the national and local Labour Party."
The motion accused the MP of "collaborating" with the Tory Brexiteer European Research Group and the DUP and "propping up a failing government".
It went on: "This CLP therefore requests that the leader of the Labour party and chief whip suspend Kate Hoey from the Parliamentary Labour Party and remove the whip; and that the National Executive Committee declare Kate Hoey ineligible for re-selection or endorsement as a Labour party parliamentary candidate."
In her report to the meeting, Ms Hoey said: "Whilst many of you may disagree with my views, I have voted in line with the manifesto and the result of the referendum – to leave the single market and the customs union.
"All my votes are on the issue being debated and not in support of the Government."
It also emerged on Thursday that Labour MP Frank Field, who also backed the Government in the crunch customs union vote last week, is facing moves by party members in his Birkenhead constituency to have him suspended.
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