East Lothian MP loses appeal to keep seat
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EmailLabour's ruling national executive committee has upheld a decision to oust East Lothian MP Anne Moffat by local party officials.
Last Friday, the East Lothian party sacked Ms Moffat, the area's MP for nine years, after a long and acrimonious dispute about her performance and style.
After being voted out by 130 votes to 56, Ms Moffat, a former lay president of the union Unison, appealed to the committee alleging that she had been the victim of a concerted and secretive campaign to isolate her and oust her from the seat.
She claimed that Unite deputy general secretary Jack Dromey who was sent to East Lothian to investigate the internal feud in 2008 and Frank Roy, a senior Labour whip in Scotland, had pressurised her to resign on health grounds or face deselection, three months before a formal complaint against her was made.
Senior party officers in East Lothian repeatedly complained about Ms Moffat's style, accusing her of neglecting her duties as an MP, at one stage making the lowest number of speeches by any MP, failing to attend party meetings and failing to properly represent constituents.
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