Labour MP Mike Hill quits Commons sparking ‘Red Wall’ by-election

The Tories will try strengthen their grip of former Labour strongholds
UK Parliament
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A Labour MP has resigned from the House of Commons with immediate effect, sparking a by-election in the “Red Wall”.

Hartlepool Labour MP Mike Hill, 57, has stood down from the seat he has held since 2017.

“Mike Hill has resigned as Member of Parliament for Hartlepool with immediate effect,” a Labour Party spokeswoman said.

The former trade union official saw a 14.8 per cent drop in his vote at the 2019 December snap election but managed to see off serious challenges from both the Tories and Brexit Party.

The Conservatives are now expected to seize the moment to try and strengthen their grip of former Labour strongholds won at the General Election.

Mr Hill held onto his seat at the election with a majority of 3,595 ahead of his Tory rival Stefan Houghton who gained 11,869 votes.

However, the former Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice took more than 10,000 votes. If those Brexit Party voters swing to the Tories, the seat could move into Conservative control.

Hartlepool 2019 General Election Result

Could the seat swing to the Conservatives?

Mike Hill (Labour) = 15,464 votes

Stefan Houghton (Conservatives) = 11,869 votes

Richard Tice (Brexit Party) = 10,603 votes

The by-election will be one of the first major tests of voters since the 2019 election that led to big Labour losses.

The dynamics will be different this time with Brexit less of an issue, the impact of the pandemic and Sir Keir Starmer having replaced Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party. 

Mr Hill appears to have deleted his Twitter account. His resignation follows reports that he used taxpayers’ money to fight a staff member’s claim of unfair dismissal, sexual assault and harassment.

Mr Hill was suspended by Labour in September 2019 over allegations he sexually harassed a woman, but had the whip restored to contest the general election two months later.

According to the Sunday Times, Mr Hill claimed £2,000 on parliamentary expenses for the excess on his employment liability policy as he looked to fight the allegations.

Labour’s shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds did not comment on Mr Hill‘s resignation when asked about it during a virtual event with the Reform think tank.

She said: “We have a whole range of elections coming up very, very soon. We have local elections and they don’t necessarily hit the headlines as much, but for their impacts on people’s living standards, they are absolutely critical.”

With reporting from PA.

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