The MP Rosie Duffield is expected to decide imminently whether to quit Labour, after accusing the party’s whips of doing little to protect her from what she called “obsessive harassment”.
The MP for Canterbury is understood to be meeting senior party officials for discussions about her future after a party member accused her of moving 200 miles away from her constituency to be with her partner, a documentary-maker, in Wrexham.
Duffield, who was elected in 2017 and has held the only Labour seat in Kent, has faced a backlash from some within the party over her views on gender issues.
The MP has a record of expressing gender-critical views and was called transphobic after liking a tweet saying women were people with cervixes. She said she felt unable to attend last year’s Labour conference because of the controversy generated by her remarks.
Duffield has denied being transphobic. She has said she is “completely supportive of trans rights”.
Her partner, James Routh, is understood to have been previously working on a documentary about Wrexham AFC, the non-league football club bought by the Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds and TV star Rob McElhenney.
In a series of tweets, Duffield described the new allegations – made in a blogpost – about her living arrangements in Wrexham as “personal, libellous, nasty and fictional crap” written by members of her own party. She said she has not moved to Wrexham.
She said she was seriously considering whether to quit Labour because she did not feel supported by the party. “It is obsessive harassment. Neither the Labour party or either the former or current Leader or the Whips’ Office have done anything at all to stop it, to offer me any support, help or legal assistance. I am financially unable to pursue a libel action,” she tweeted on Sunday.
“Kent police, parliamentary Security team and the Speaker’s Office have been helpful but it is the Labour party that have offered me no support at all since I unexpectedly became an MP 5 years ago. I am today considering my future in the Party very carefully.”
Labour has recently asked its MPs to indicate whether they intend to stand again as part of preparations for a general election. Current MPs will be expected to go through a reselection process, though changes brought in by Keir Starmer make it more difficult for members to deselect MPs.
A number of long-serving MPs, including Harriet Harman and Margaret Hodge, have indicated they will not stand again at the next election.
A Labour party spokesperson said: “The party continues to be in touch with Rosie Duffield and has offered her advice and support.”
• This article was amended on 31 January 2022 to remove an incorrect reference, introduced during editing, to Ryan Reynolds as a “US actor”; he is Canadian.
