Margaret Hodge reselected as Barking candidate after trigger

Margaret Hodge has been reselected as Labour’s parliamentary candidate in Barking after being ‘triggered’ by local party members who chose to conduct a full selection process rather than automatically readopt her.

LabourList understands that the sitting MP secured 233 votes out of almost 400 cast, winning the eliminating ballot on the first round. She secured more than 50% of first preference votes.

Hodge saw off three challengers: Barking councillor Laila Butt, who came second; Barking councillor and former prison officer Josie Channer, who came third; and Newham councillor Moniba Khan, who won the fewest votes.

Over the weekend, another triggered Labour MP – Diana Johnson – was also reselected by her local party with two-thirds of the vote, winning against a Unite-backed local councillor and Momentum member.

So far, only six MPs have been ‘triggered’ – Hodge, as well as Diana Johnson, who has also been overwhelmingly reselected, plus Roger Godsiff, Emma Lewell-Buck, Kate Osamor and Virendra Sharma.