Kate Hoey

Credentials

• According to her profile at her website, Hoey attended the Belfast Royal Academy and the Ulster College of Physical Education before taking an economics degree in London. [1]

Background

Kate Hoey is the former Labour MP for Vauxhall and was a prominent Brexit-supporting figure within the Labour Party during the EU referendum. [1], [2]

She was appointed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the House of Lords in a July 2020 honours list which received criticism for including several of Johnson’s prominent political allies as well as known deniers of climate science. [32], [33], [34]

Born in Northern Ireland, Hoey is a hardline unionist, a Eurosceptic and a libertarian who has at times voted against the Labour party whip. [1], [3], [4], [5]

Hoey was a co-chair of Labour Leave before falling out with the group. According to a 2016 article in The Telegraph, Hoey did not publicly announce her resignation, but would no longer attend events. As of 2019, Hoey was still listed as a “Supporter” on the Labour Leave website, and was introduced as the group’s “Chair” in a 2018 event description. [6], [7], [8]

Following the reported leadership dispute with Labour Leave, Hoey co-founded Grassroots Out, alongside prominent DUP climate science denier Sammy Wilson. She was seen on the Brexit campaign trail alongside Nigel Farage and accompanied Arron Banks to Washington in 2016. Meetings were scheduled with a number of US conservative and libertarian think tanks including the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute. [9], [10]

In an interview with Sky News, she described the EU as a “Stalinist form of organisation.” [11]

Hoey has not been afraid to show her sympathy for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Northern Ireland. She previously told the Irish Times, the DUP have been misunderstood by the British media: [3]

“It’s because there’s a total lack of understanding of the pro-union community in Northern Ireland by most of the liberal media in this country and by the liberal establishment,” she said.

Like the DUP, she repeatedly argued that Northern Ireland should not be treated differently than the rest of the UK. [12]

She was critical of the ban on handguns and has shown ongoing support for fox hunting. She has voted against Labour’s anti-terrorism laws, introducing ID cards, a wholly elected House of Lords and replacing the Trident nuclear programme. [13], [14], [15]

Stance on Climate Change

2019

The following statement on climate change was previously published on Kate Hoey’s website: [16]

“Climate change remains both a threat and an opportunity, as we look to move towards a new, green, low carbon economic and energy future. Labour has promised to meet our carbon reduction targets, while seriously addressing energy efficiency and insulation and banning fracking.

At the same time, we must support consumers who have faced rising energy bills as the government have failed to ensure that the industry has enough working competition to keep prices low. We will cap the average duel fuel household energy bill remains below £1000 per year, and introduce public sector energy competitors to keep the market honest.”

Key Quotes

December 10, 2018

Hoey told the Irish Times: [3]

“It’s because there’s a total lack of understanding of the pro-union community in Northern Ireland by most of the liberal media in this country and by the liberal establishment,” she said.

March 22, 2018

In an interview with Guardian columnist Owen Jones, Hoey said she had no regrets campaigning alongside Nigel Farage in the Brexit referendum campaign, adding: [17]

“I really don’t think Nigel Farage is a racist.”

Key Deeds

July 2020

Hoey was appointed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to the House of Lords. [32]

July 2018

Hoey was one of three Labour MPs (including Frank Field, climate science denier Graham Stringer as well as suspended MP Kelvin Hopkins) to vote with the government and narrowly avoid a major defeat for Theresa May over the Brexit Customs Bill. [18]

She backed an amendment to the bill which would force the government to agree to commit to never having a border in the Irish Sea — against an EU proposal to allow Northern Ireland to remain in the customs union. [19]

The amendment was signed by DUP MP and climate science denier Sammy Wilson, Tory MP and adviser to the climate science denial group the Global Warming Policy Foundation Owen Paterson, Tory MP and former chairman of the Northern Ireland select committee Laurence Roberston, and Conservative MPs Martin Vickers and William Wragg. [20]

Hours before the vote in the Commons, Hoey and Frank Field were pictured speaking to the hardline Brexiteer and former Brexit junior minister Steve Baker, also a member of the European Research Group, a publicly-funded Tory research group aiming to ensure a hard Brexit is not compromised. [21]

Baker is revealed to have co-ordinated the creation and running of a WhatsApp group for backbench MPs who were being asked to vote for ERG amendments over the government’s Customs Bill. [22]

June 2018

Aaron Banks told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee that Hoey was offered an office at the Leave.EU London office at Millbank Tower during an MP questioning as part of its inquiry into fake news. [23]

Banks told the committee of MPs: “Kate Hoey fell out with Vote Leave […] and we gave them an office with us in Millbank.” [23]

February 2018

Hoey declared that the Good Friday Agreement which secured peace in Northern Ireland was “unsustainable” prompting backlash from Ireland’s deputy prime minister Simon Coveney. [24]

Similar comments were previously made by climate science denier Tory MP Owen Paterson and hardline Brexiteer Daniel Hannan. [24]

May 2017

Astrophysicist and climate science denier Piers Corbyn, who regularly speaks at climate science denial events, was pictured campaigning alongside Hoey in Vauxhall. [25]

April 2017

Ukip leader Paul Nuttall announced that the party will not field candidates against Brexit-backing MPs in the general election and endorsed Hoey’s candidature in Vauxhall. [26]

Nutall told the Birmingham Mail: “If there is a Brexiteer with a slender majority and there is the opportunity that they will lose the seat to a remainer, then the UKIP branch will indeed be asked if it is a good idea to stand aside.” [26]

June 2016

Hoey campaigned alongside Nigel Farage on his Brexit flotilla on the Thames. [27]

April 2016

Hoey received a £5,000 donation from Aaron Banks, one of the main donors to the Leave.EU group headed by Nigel Farage, to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and meet politicians in Washington regarding the EU referendum. [28]

A Leave.EU press release said Banks and Hoey would “meet policy leaders, political thought leaders, and media to build support for Brexit and to convey the benefits for the United States should the United Kingdom vote to leave the European Union when the upcoming referendum takes place June 23.” [10]

The trip’s agenda also included meetings with the Atlantic Council, the American Foreign Policy Center and US-based think tanks known for spreading climate disinformation the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute. Meetings with the US Treasury Department and the Department of State were also organised.  [10]

February 2016

Hoey reportedly quit her role as co-chair of Labour Leave, which was affiliated to Vote Leave, following internal squabbling and infighting. [6]

A few days later, she co-founded Grassroots Out, a pro-Brexit campaign group supported by Ukip, David Davis and Liam Fox, along with prominent climate science denier Sammy Wilson. [9]

October 2015

In an opinion column for The Independent, Hoey argued that voting to leave the EU is a left-wing move. She described the EU imposing “unprecedented levels of austerity on Greece” as  “a real wake-up call” and slammed the union as “an unaccountable force bringing crippling pain.” [29]

She made the case for the UK to “reach out globally,” particularly to the Commonwealth while “stopping being Little Europeans and become Internationalists again.” [29]

June 2013

Hoey launched Labour for a Referendum (later renamed Labour Leave) calling for an in-out vote on the UK‘s membership to the EU. She told the BBC it was “absolute madness” not to back a referendum and described the EU as a “sick organisation now that is going to get worse.” [30]

March 2005

The Fermanagh Herald reported that Hoey endorsed now DUP leader Arlene Foster in the 2005 general election for the seat of Fermanagh-South Tyrone. [31]

A picture of the article cutting shows Foster being quoted saying: “We have known each other since student days and I would have worked with her in the Friends of the Union. When I was nominated by the DUP, she told me if there was anything she could do to help and I suggested she would come to Enniskillen to endorse my candidature.” [31]

Affiliations

• Labour Leave (formerly Labour for a Referendum) — Former co-chair. Privately resigned according to a 2016 article in The Telegraph. As of 2019, Hoey was still listed as a “Supporter” and was introduced as the group’s “Chair” in a 2018 event description. [6], [7], [8]
• Grassroots Out — Co-founder.  [9]

Social Media

• @CatharineHoey on Twitter

Publications

Some sample publications below:

• “There’s no need for an Irish hard border – it’s just a barrier put up by scaremongers,” The Sun, November 14, 2018.
• “Kate Hoey: I won’t vote for a Brexit deal that panders to the Irish government’s hypocrisy,” Labour List, November 13, 2018.
• “We must not allow the Remainers to betray the people, says KATE HOEY,” Express, August 22, 2018.
• “How Brexit offers huge opportunities for Kenya,” Brits in Kenya, May 2, 2018.
• “’We must get out of the protectionist EU and into the world’,” Business Insider, April 9, 2018.
• “My party, Labour, must stop trying to sabotage Brexit,” The Telegraph, January 2, 2018.
• “Labour must now back Brexit. Our people will abandon us if we do not,” The Telegraph, January 24, 2017.
• “Gagging the Press is like trying to derail Brexit… but it’s not too late for you to stop this attack on ordinary folk,” The Sun, January 1, 2017. 
• “Boris must put a stop to Peter Mandelson’s Harare meddling,” The Zimbabwean, July 18, 2016.
• “Why I Back Leave: Kate Hoey,” News Letter, June 18, 2016.
• “Chance of a lifetime: Why Britain must leave a centralising EU,” OMFIF, May 3, 2016. 
• “Brexit won’t hurt Northern Ireland at all – instead, it will brighten its future,” The Telegraph, May 13, 2016.
• “The patriotic vote is to leave, says Kate Hoey,” Express, April 30, 2016.
• “The Civil Service shouldn’t be on Remain’s side,” The Telegraph, February 29, 2016.
• “Labour MP Kate Hoey: Why leaving the EU is a left-wing move,” The Independent, October 9, 2015.
• “Here’s the real reason we can’t renationalise the railways,” New Statesman, August 26, 2015.
• “Labour should ditch slavish devotion to EU and back Brexit,” The Times, July 17, 2015.
• “Why Labour must end EU love-in and save our country by KATE HOEY, Labour MP for Vauxhall,” Daily Mail, June 14, 2015.

Resources

1. “About,” KateHoey Member of Parliament. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/O07ic
2. “28: Kate Hoey,” Politico. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/zvFVq
3. Denis Staunton. “Kate Hoey: an Antrim-born MP who said Ireland should pay for Border,” Irish Times, December 10, 2017. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/Xs7Ih
4. “Kate Hoey,” BBC News, October 16, 2002. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/y37vA
5. “Kate Hoey under pressure from Labour after siding with Tories,” The Guardian, July 18, 2018. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/X4zQZ
6. Laura Hughes. “Kate Hoey quits Brexit group after leadership row,” The Telegraph, February 5, 2016. Archived January 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/89PuY 
7. “Labour Leave Supporters,” Labour Leave. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/9JwaA
8. “How Labour can maintain the support of Leave voters,” Labour Leave. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/QXBX6
9. “Grassroots out London Launch,” Campaign for an Independent Britain, February 19, 2016. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/UmyBr
10. “LEAVE.EU FOUNDER & BREXIT BACKER ARRON BANKS, & GRASSROOTS OUT FOUNDER KATE HOEY TO MAKE WASHINGTON, D.C. VISIT” (PDF), Leave.eu. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog. Retrieved from Politico.com.
11. “Labour’s Kate Hoey Live on Sky News Discussing Brexit,” YouTube video uploaded by user “Labour Tube,” July 16, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
12. “We cannot have Northern Ireland treated any differently than any other part of the UK,” YouTube video uploaded by user “Leave Means Leave,” February 28, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
13. David Sapsted. “Hoey criticises ban on handguns,” The Telegraph, January 2, 2001. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/HbDod
14. “Fox Hunting: Kate Hoey,” Lambeth Liberal Democrats. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/0ggE3
15. “Kate Hoey’s voting in Parliament,” TheyWorkForYou. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/an9HD 
16. “Climate change,” KateHoey. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/hXKnK
17. “Kate Hoey tells Owen Jones: ‘I really don’t think Nigel Farage is a racist’ – video interview,” The Guardian, March 22, 2018. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
18. “May survives Tory Brexit rebellion with narrow Commons victory – as it happened,” The Guardian, July 16, 2018. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/kVt86
19. Dan Sabbagh. “Hardline Brexiters demand amendments to trade bill,” The Guardian, July 11, 2018. Archived January 7, 2018. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/6LqRn
20. “Happy to have signed this amendment to the Trade Bill in the name of the former Chair of the NI Affairs Select Committee and supported crossparty. We can never allow Northern Ireland to have a separate customs union from the rest of the U.K.” Twitter post by user “@kateHoeyMP,” July 13, 2018. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
21. “And a picture tells a thousand words – effective ERG Brexiter whip recently resigned Brexit minister Steve Baker confers with the Labour MPs who brought victory – Field and Hoey,” Twitter post by user “@faisalislam,” July 16, 2018. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
22. Christopher Hope. “Tory rebels set up WhatsApp plot to thwart Theresa May’s Brexit plan,” The Telegraph, July 15, 2018. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/q1cWx
23. Alex Hern. “Arron Banks walks out as MPs’ questions on Brexit and Russia run late – as it happened,” The Guardian, June 12, 2018. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/AQmUL
24. Lisa O’Carroll. “Ireland condemns Kate Hoey’s ‘reckless’ Good Friday agreement remarks,” The Guardian, February 20, 2018. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/U58ZV
25. “Such a well organised group @VauxhallLab good fun too! Twitter post by user “@KateHoeyMP,” May 16, 2017. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
26. James Tapsfield and Kate Ferguson. “Paul Nuttall says Ukip will NOT stand candidates against true brexit-backing MPs – but STILL won’t say where he will stand,” Daily Mail, April 28, 2017.  Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/K6JKY
27. “Geldof and Farage flotillas clash on Thames over EU referendum – video,” The Guardian, via Reuters, June 15, 2016. Archived .mp4 on file at DeSmog.
28. Electoral Commission Search performed January 2019. Archived data on file at DeSmog.
29. Kate Hoey. “Labour MP Kate Hoey: Why leaving the EU is a left-wing move,” The Independent, October 9, 2015. Archived January 7, 2019. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/D44hn
30. “EU: Kate Hoey on Labour for a Referendum group launch,” BBC News, June 4, 2013.
31. “To those surprised by Kate Hoey MP‘s dismissal of the Good Friday Agreement, they should remember she has long been a right wing unionist and even publicly endorsed (now DUP leader) Arlene Foster back in 2005,” Twitter post by user “@markMdub,” February 20, 2018. Archived .png on file at DeSmog.
32. “Boris Johnson’s brother Jo and Sir Ian Botham to join House of Lords,” Sky News, July 31, 2020. Archived August 31, 2020. Archive.fo URL: http://archive.fo/icmUV
33. Alexander Brown, “Family affair – Boris Johnson blasted for ‘cronyism’ as his brother, Theresa May’s husband Philip and Brexit backers are handed honours,” The Sun, July 31, 2020. Archived August 31, 2020. Archive.fo URL: https://archive.fo/e6odG
34. Richard Collett-White, “More climate science deniers appointed to House of Lords,” DeSmog, August 3, 2020. 

Other Resources

• “Voting Record — Kate Hoey,” The Public Whip.
• “Kate Hoey: ‘Most of my friends don’t like politicians. Except me’,” The Guardian, January 2, 2016.

_{Image Credit: Steve Punter/Flickr/CC BY–SA 2.0}