In Praise of Kate Hoey, a Labour MP

I must be careful how I put this, but it must be said. Kate Hoey, Labour MP for Vauxhall is an admirable woman. She writes in tomorrow's Telegraph. Such a pity that she's not a Conservative. I always had a warm feeling towards her, because of our mutual love of sport - she being a former N. Ireland high jump champion. From the beginning of her political career, she seemed so 'sensible'. I seem to recall she shared my opposition to the knee jerk ban on legally held hand guns. Now they are all illegally held. She's not afraid to adopt a minority cause she believes in - and that was a truly minority cause. Really came to wider attention when she declared her opposition to the choice of London over Paris as the site for the next Olympic Games. There are plenty who agree with her now. That must have taken real guts. And then there was her antipathy to the illogical and prejudiced ban on hunting with dogs. She demonstrated that there is no roon for the politics of spite in 'Hoeyism'. I think Kate Hoey is the current Chair of the Countryside Alliance. Her standing with many Conservatives flew up into the stratosphere when she refused to betray her manifesto pledge to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty - despite the enormous pressure that must have been put on her to do so. And yesterday in Parliament, through common sense, clear thinking and a refusal to be bullied, Kate Hoey has ensured that our nation knows just what sort of person is the current Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin. OK, so she's a Labour MP, but in my book, she is a Parliamentary star. I'd still vote Conservative, and encourage others to do so, if I lived in Vauxhall though. Just covering my back.