Kate Hoey survives attempt to deselect her (by Lee Jasper)

[Bob]

Kate Hoey's survived an attempt to deselect her according to this:

http://www.labourhome.org/story/2008/5/29/184129/255

The article says that the Blairites in the local party tried to deselect her and that Lee Jasper (not a Blairite as far as I'm aware!) called for her resignation.

Anyone know if any of the councillors tried to have her deselected? One of the comments says that she didn't campaign in Stockwell & Ferndale - so maybe that's who?

I can see that the Stockwell Secretary (Alex Bigham) is against Hoey - but am intrigued by the details.

And anyone know if the 1/3 of the vote against her quoted is right?

Declaration of interest: I'm a Lib Dem. And long time Vauxhall resident (though I've recently moved to just outside Vauxhall consituency).

 

[Kid_Eternity]

The date on that article: Thu May 29, 2008 at 11:41:29 PM GMT

That's the second time I've read this today...

 

[Bob]

The date on that article: Thu May 29, 2008 at 11:41:29 PM GMT

That's the second time I've read this today...

Good point - probably based on the fact that I picked it up from the Telegraph political blog.

I'd not seen it here before though - so thought that somebody here with their finger on the pulse would know more.

 

[agricola]

Kate Hoey's survived an attempt to deselect her according to this:

http://www.labourhome.org/story/2008/5/29/184129/255

The article says that the Blairites in the local party tried to deselect her and that Lee Jasper (not a Blairite as far as I'm aware!) called for her resignation.

Anyone know if any of the councillors tried to have her deselected? One of the comments says that she didn't campaign in Stockwell & Ferndale - so maybe that's who?

I can see that the Stockwell Secretary (Alex Bigham) is against Hoey - but am intrigued by the details.

And anyone know if the 1/3 of the vote against her quoted is right?

Declaration of interest: I'm a Lib Dem. And long time Vauxhall resident (though I've recently moved to just outside Vauxhall consituency).

Some of the comments on that article are a really good guide at how completely and utterly fucked Labour is right now:

Kate Hoey – her record
· Kate Hoey has agreed to join Boris Johnson’s Tory Administration in London. It was announced 2 days before the elections, damaging Labour’s campaign.

· Kate Hoey didn’t campaign for any Labour candidates in Stockwell, Ferndale and other Vauxhall wards – the heart of her constituency during the 2008 Mayoral and London Assembly elections. She appeared to lie in her official statement, when she said “I have and shall continue actively to campaign for Labour in these elections”

· Kate Hoey did not publicly endorse the Labour candidate for Mayor.

· Kate Hoey didn’t endorse all the Labour candidates for the Lambeth council elections in 2006. In Clapham Town ward, she appeared on a Tory leaflet, endorsing the Conservative candidate, Bernard Gentry.

· Kate Hoey was elected as a Labour MP. However, once she got into power she voted against Labour Party policy more than 230 times. Kate Hoey regularly votes with the Tories.

· Kate Hoey voted on 9 January to weaken gay hate laws. She voted in Parliament in favour of a homophobic amendment to the Public Order Act (1986) which would have stopped the prohibition of “expressions of antipathy towards, conduct relating to a particular sexual orientation” The gay rights organisation, Stonewall has condemned her actions.

· Kate Hoey is an active member of the “I want a referendum campaign” which targets pro-European Labour MPs with small majorities
· Kate Hoey has only managed to turn up for 50% of votes in Parliament since 1 May 2005– well below average for MPs.
· Kate Hoey earns £15-20,000 in addition to her MP’s salary as Chairman of the Countryside Alliance. The Countryside Alliance ran a campaign to defeat Labour MPs in the 2005 General Election - a breach of the Labour Party constitution.
· Kate Hoey has also earned over £5,000 a year in addition to her MP’s salary for writing articles in the Conservative supporting Daily Telegraph and the extreme right wing, Labour-hating Mail on Sunday

· Kate Hoey received an undeclared amount of cash from the giant tobacco firm BAT for making speeches and hospitality such as free trips from British American Racing, which is owned by BAT. Kate Hoey voted against a smoking ban in public places.

· Kate Hoey wanted the Olympics to go to Paris, not London.

· Kate Hoey endorsed a DUP candidate in 2005, in breach of Labour Party rules (see right). A DUP adviser called the pope an ‘anti-christ’
· Kate Hoey opposed a ban on handguns after the Dunblane massacre
· Kate Hoey wanted to re-introduce terraces in football grounds when she was Sports Minister, despite the Hillsborough tragedy

(I can source all of these if anyone is interested)

 

[greenfox]

(Declaration of interest: for my sins I am a Labour Party member and attend meetings on a semi regular basis (but not every time so dont know the precise ins and outs of the situation) - I am not an office holder in the party, nor councillor, nor anything else special and have not contributed to the original blog)

I was at the meeting at the end of May and I think the original post gives a good broad summary of what happened at the meeting.

It seemed that there was an organised faction who were out to get Hoey - coordinated by Stockwell. As the original poster said there were loads more people at the meeting than usual (probably double the usual 20-25 attendees and from a variety of ward Labour parties and organisations affiliated to the LP such as the unions etc). Lambeth Leader Steve Reed was there (to report on a different matter - he comes to meetings from time to time - but did not get involved in this debate at all) and also there were I would estimate six or seven councillors for wards in the vauxhall constituency there.

There was a lot of emotion in the room and the contributions from the 20 or so people who spoke went along the lines of how upset they felt when it was announced two days or whatever before the election, how they felt like being kicked in the teeth and the problems it caused on election day but that everyone needs to move on and put it behind us. There is a lot of affection for Kate so even when people were cricising her they praised her as well - this made some of the speeches slightly strange.

We in the labour party are very tribal and people seem to have very long memories so past misdemeanors were raised - in particular the stockwell party seem to be very upset that Hoey did not help them out (I think) in a byelection a few years ago and also that she could do much much more to support the party locally. There were also concerns raised about the countryside alliance which Hoey is chair of and various other issues on which Hoey has not toed the party line. I think in a way this may come back to the way she was originally selected ('imposed' according to some people) back in 1989 when there was a byelection for the seat.

As for Lee Jasper he was a slightly intimidating presence in the room joining in and at onc point accusing Hoey of slandering him which she denied - merely she said she had raised concerns about the financial probity of some London Development Agency funded projects in Brixton etc (these are have been investigated or are under investigation and as far as I know no charges of maladministration are forthcoming). He cant be said to have lead the deselection attempt but if you are cycnical you could say he might be wanting to lead a deselection attempt as he could then put himself forward for selection - I dont think anyone in the party would want him though.

Then some people went on to question whether Hoey was actually Labour at all or would be better off joining the Tories.

Hoey came back with an apology (and some tears) saying that she was Labour to the core, that as the original post said the move was outside her control and that she wanted to learn from this and move on. She also made the point that the announcement could not have shifted the 100,000 or so votes that gave Johnson his majority - she said she really wasnt that powerful. She also said that she was not anti-Livingstone having been his election agent previously in Hackney and getting on fine with him.

She said that deep down she had problems with the Mayor of London as a position overall as she did not believe there was enough democratic accountability. She said that she would criticise Johnson as vigorously as anyone else on matters that affect the constituency. She hoped to use her role to bring beneifts for the constituency from the olympics rather than seeing all the benefits going to the east London boroughs that are actually staging them.

It is a very interesting debate to be had over what kind of person we want our MP to be - I think we in Vauxhall get a much better deal as a result of having an independently minded MP who is not afraid to speak out on certain issues on which she feels strongly. Dont forget that over 50% of the people in the constituency live in social housing of some kind and so their lives are disproprotionatly affected by the policies of the council, her not being afraid to criticise Lambeth might bring problems for the councillors but surely is in the best interests of her constituents. She has cut a path in life as one who is not afriad to knock heads together and speak her mind - I think we would all be much worse off if we did not have her as our MP.

Also Hoey was unanimously reselected by the local party in 2007 which was accepted by Labour central - it would be very hard for her to be deselected (requiring rulings from Labour's national executive committee etc etc). I guess the opportunity for someone else to stand will come if and when Hoey retires (I think she is something like 61/62 now) but i imagine that it will be a very popular contest as it is one of the safest Labour seats in the country and a short distance from the House of Commons.

 

[greenfox]

Some of the comments on that article are a really good guide at how completely and utterly fucked Labour is right now:

I have to say that Alex Bingham the Stockwell secretary who cited all these arguments is in my opinion not a very nice person - the kind of zealous politics obsessive you get in political parties (and especially among student politicians) who doesnt live in the real world where difficult choices have to be made. Hoey has made her name as an independent minded MP not a new labour party robot - I'm sure if you combed the 20 or so year record of most politicans who have the odd independent thought you could find various things that you dont agree with. Hoey agrees with Labour Party members on 90%+ of matters its just on some things she does feel very strongly and is prepared to vote against official party lines

 

[Kid_Eternity]

(Declaration of interest: for my sins I am a Labour Party member and attend meetings on a semi regular basis (but not every time so dont know the precise ins and outs of the situation) - I am not an office holder in the party, nor councillor, nor anything else special and have not contributed to the original blog)

I was at the meeting at the end of May and I think the original post gives a good broad summary of what happened at the meeting....

<snip>

Interesting coverage. Why wouldn't the party want Jasper (I can think of a few reasons but wanted to know from an insider)?

 

[agricola]

I have to say that Alex Bingham the Stockwell secretary who cited all these arguments is in my opinion not a very nice person - the kind of zealous politics obsessive you get in political parties (and especially among student politicians) who doesnt live in the read world where difficult choices have to be made. Hoey has made her name as an independent minded MP not a new labour party robot - I'm sure if you combed the 20 or so year record of most politicans who have the odd independent thought you could find various things that you dont agree with. Hoey agrees with Labour Party members on 90%+ of matters its just on some things she does feel very strongly and is prepared to vote against official party lines

I agree, thats what makes her a better MP than nearly all the New Labour drones who (sadly) infest Parliament at present. You would know more than me, but IMHO if they did deselect her she would probably walk the next election as Independent Labour (or whatever) anyway, lets face it if things carry on as they are it may even be an advantage come the next election.

Interesting coverage. Why wouldn't the party want Jasper (I can think of a few reasons but wanted to know from an insider)?

Only a few?

 

[butchersapron]

Interesting coverage. Why wouldn't the party want Jasper (I can think of a few reasons but wanted to know from an insider)?

This is a joke yes?

Let's have some full disclosure here in line with the other posters too please.

 

[Bob]

I have to say that Alex Bingham the Stockwell secretary who cited all these arguments is in my opinion not a very nice person - the kind of zealous politics obsessive you get in political parties (and especially among student politicians) who doesnt live in the read world where difficult choices have to be made. Hoey has made her name as an independent minded MP not a new labour party robot - I'm sure if you combed the 20 or so year record of most politicans who have the odd independent thought you could find various things that you dont agree with. Hoey agrees with Labour Party members on 90%+ of matters its just on some things she does feel very strongly and is prepared to vote against official party lines

Are the Stockwell councillors part of the attempt to de-select her? They've always struck me as a very new Labour bunch.

On the other hand when Hoey was originally imposed in the late 1980s she was seen as a new Labour (though obviously not that phrase) imposition by Labour HQ.

 

[mhwfc]

I read the thread title as "Kate Hoey survives attempt to disect her"

 

[Bob]

Update

Sounds like the local party aren't happy:

http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2008/07/kate-hoey-under-attack-from-local.html

Originally posted by Iain Dale: A kind soul has emailed me the agenda for Thursday night's General Committee Meeting of Vauxhall Labour Party. It looks like there is going to be another attempt to deselect the local MP Kate Hoey.


1. Apologies for absence
2. Minutes of last GC
3. Reports from Kate Hoey MP
4. Reports from CLP Officers
5. Resolutions

Vassall Ward Branch

Vassall Ward calls on Kate Hoey MP to state when she accepted the job with Boris Johnson.

Vassall Ward calls on Kate Hoey MP to stand down as advisor to Boris Johnson and to focus her efforts on the Vauxhall Constituency.

Oval Ward Branch

'This GC asks Kate Hoey MP to produce a strategy for Vauxhall outlining how the MP and the CLP should campaign and fundraise together'

Larkhall Ward Branch

Motion received outside of the time limit

6. AOB

 

[Kid_Eternity]

Yeah I saw that, typical Iain Dalism...

 

[greenfox]

Hmm

I am not looking forward to tomorrow's meeting - it will be the usual anti-Hoey lynch mob raising all the old issues, I feel like saying for goodness sake get over it.

To my mind surely it is better that our MP is involved and can exert some influence over London government than just standing aside for the next four years letting Johnson mess up London

 

[greenfox]

I'm surprised at Vassall ward - they would seem to have most to lose from appearances of division and would be the ward that would lose most if Hoey wasnt Vauxhall MP - I believe its the poorest area of the whole constituency and so is inhabited by people who have problems that need Hoey's take no prisoners approach

I'm surpirsed also at Oval ward - as far as I know they are only a theoretical Labour Party with vritually no active members, meeting only once a year to elect officers.