Kate Hoey under pressure from Labour after siding with Tories

Kate Hoey is facing demands to stand down as a Labour MP from members of her constituency party after defying the whip to vote with the Conservatives in Tuesday’s crucial Commons vote.

Opponents in her south London seat of Vauxhall have prepared a motion of censure that demands that Jeremy Corbyn withdraws the party whip and stops her from standing again as an MP.

At least one ward and one Momentum meeting have already passed the censure motion, which is expected to be put before a constituency meeting next Thursday.

The motion reads: “As Labour members who campaigned for Kate Hoey at the last general election despite many of us disagreeing with her about Brexit, we are appalled at the way in which she is demonstrating that her personal views take priority over representing her constituents and our party by voting to enable this rotten, inept government to stay in office.”

It demands that “the leader of the Labour party suspend Kate Hoey from the parliamentary Labour party and remove the whip” and that the party’s ruling body, the NEC, should “declare Kate Hoey ineligible for re-selection as a parliamentary candidate.”

Hoey said the censure motion was “no surprise”. “Over my 29 years I have been censured numerous times. It’s my constituents that really matter and, hard as it might be for Guardian readers to understand, they include many who voted remain and aren’t obsessed with Brexit.”

Hoey’s decision to vote against the party and the motion was discussed on Tuesday night at a Momentum meeting in the Bread and Roses pub in Clapham, south London.

A statement from Vauxhall Momentum, which was circulated among local activists, urged members to support a motion of censure that will be put to Vauxhall Labour party’s general committee on 26 July. This is a meeting at which all members can attend but only delegates can vote.

One local party activist said that Hoey’s decision to vote with the Tories was being seen as a missed chance missed to bring down Theresa May.

“It was essential that Kate voted with the Labour party against the government on this vote whatever her views on Brexit,” the activist said. “We had an opportunity to bring the government down and fight for a Labour government with progressive policies which would have made a massive difference. She [Kate] is out of step with the constituency in a very serious way.”

Last month, the same general committee passed a motion critical of Hoey which asked the party’s general secretary, Jennie Formby, to meet to discuss the possibility of setting up an early trigger ballot.

Hoey’s political demise was predicted before the last general election because of her pro-Brexit stance in an overwhelmingly remain constituency. She became a target of vitriol from some remainers after appearing on a fishing boat with Nigel Farage.

Defying predictions, she increased her majority by more than 7,500 votes, which she attributed to young voters enthused by Corbyn’s campaign.