Kate Hoey, the Labour MP, Brexiteer and serial rebel, has today announced plans to stand down at the next election. In a letter announcing her retirement, the MP for Vauxhall promises to carry on until a general election (whether that’s this year or 2022) ‘serving with the energy, honesty and integrity that I have tried to bring to public service my whole life’. Her decision comes after the Labour party gave its MPs the deadline of today to say whether they wished to seek re-election. That deadline led many to worry that it could lead to deselection attempts by local members after the threshold to spark a re-selection contest was reduced to 33 per cent of the Constituency Labour Party (CLP).
Kate Hoey’s re-selection form
Was this a factor in Hoey’s decision? Given that Hoey previously lost a non-binding no-confidence vote by her local party over her pro-Brexit position (sparked by her decision to rebel in a crunch customs union vote), it likely has been on her mind. However, Hoey was also dismissive of that vote and throughout her career has shown that she isn’t one to be pushed into a decision just because a loud group are against her. It’s also worth pointing out that Hoey previously said she would not fight the 2020 election, but decided to stay on when the 2017 snap election was called. It follows that this is a decision she has been pondering for some time, regardless of the local opposition to her Brexit position.
When I interviewed Hoey earlier this year on the Women with Balls podcast, she hinted that she could soon be departing Parliament. Hoey said she wanted Brexit delivered before she retired: ‘If they want rid of me they’d better get out of the EU as quickly as possible.’ She also spoke of the things she would like to do after her career as an MP ended:
‘I shall stay until I feel like going. I’m getting on yes. There’s lots of things I’d like to do definitely, I’ve always had a life outside of this place – all my closest friends have nothing to do with politics or not active politics. I go back to Northern Ireland as much as I can. I’ve got a lot of things I could do if I wasn’t in politics but I won’t be happy giving up politics until we are a fully independent country again.’
As for what this means for Parliament, Hoey will likely be replaced by a pro-EU Labour candidate. The Liberal Democrats had been eyeing up Vauxhall as a place where they could do well by soaking up the Remain vote against a Brexiteer like Hoey. Hoey’s decision to leave means Labour will be able to pick a candidate suited to taking on any Lib Dem threat. Hoey meanwhile is likely to spend her last months or years in Parliament trying to get the UK out of the EU ‘as quickly as possible’. Given that she is leaving Parliament anyway, she has even less incentive to try and please the pro-EU forces in her party.
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