Kate Hoey vows to face down local activists over bid to deselect her
2 min read
Pro-Brexit Labour MP Kate Hoey has vowed to fight against efforts by her constituency party to stop her from standing at the next election.
Activists in Vauxhall, south London, unanimously backed a motion of no confidence in the MP and called for party bosses to suspend the whip from her.
They also said she should be made “ineligible for re-selection or endorsement as a Labour party parliamentary candidate”.
And they accused her of “collaborating” with Tory Brexiteers and the DUP and “propping up a failing government”.
Ms Hoey has faced a barrage of internal criticism after she was among four Labour MPs who helped the Government defeat an attempt to force Britain to sign up to a customs union with the EU.
The no-confidence motion claims that defeat in the Commons vote could have brought down the Government and led to a general election that Labour was “widely expected to win”.
However, the backbencher vowed to take on attempts to push her out, despite conceding that those in her Lambeth seat voted overwhelmingly in favour of staying in the EU.
The MP told the Guardian in a statement that the motion was “not a surprise”.
“My local party activists are solid EU remainers. I will always put my country before my party and helping my constituents is a priority," she said.
“After 29 years as an MP I am quite relaxed about the vote and it won’t influence in any way how I vote in future.”
The motion carries no official force, but local members hope it will pile pressure on the leadership and that it could lead to a so-called “trigger ballot” to remove her ahead of the next election.
The Constituency Labour Party motion on Thursday read: "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."
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."
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