Anne Moffat, the Labour MP at the centre of a bitter constituency civil war, has come out fighting and labelled her local critics as "bullies" who do not like "strong women who won't be controlled".
The Labour Party last week suspended the East Lothian constituency party, where Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray is the MSP, after it passed a motion of no confidence in Ms Moffat, the MP for the past seven years.
The CLP, the largest local Labour party in Scotland, is now effectively overseen by the party's National Executive Committee. The local party executive committee is due to hold a regular meeting at Prestonpans Labour Club tomorrow but pending an inquiry by the NEC this may not go ahead.
Yesterday Ms Moffat, who regards the censure vote as "unconstitutional", said she would not be bowed.
Ms Moffat, who has been a Labour MP since 2001, was reselected to stand in East Lothian at the next Westminster election with the support of affiliated trade union votes. Local party members were split over whether to automatically endorse her. Four of the six local branches in East Lothian declined to support her, with three of those branches voting to open a selection process which could have led to her being replaced.
Yesterday Ms Moffat acknowledged that the divisions over reselection may have been part of the problem, but added that her critics were involved in personal campaign to undermine her.
"Maybe it's just something a certain quarter in East Lothian don't like and that's working with women - particularly strong women who won't be controlled," said Ms Moffat. "I'm my own person. There are some people within East Lothian that would like to be able to dictate how a politician does the job.
"Well, I'll do the job as best as I can for my constituents and all party members, not just individuals."
Her critics claim disquiet in the local party stemmed from a parliamentary standards inquiry into Ms Moffat's expenses, in which she was exonerated, and from disputes with her constituency staff.
Between 2003 and 2004, Ms Moffat accumulated the highest travel bill of any Westminster politician that year. A breakdown of expenses was published following a two-year-battle for disclosure.
The record bill was made up of thousands of pounds' worth of first-class rail and air fares, as well as trips to Malta and Portugal. Figures show she claimed £9792 in rail fares over the 12-month period, including £7211 for journeys from London to "Glasgow or Edinburgh".
In May, police launched an investigation after Ms Moffat reported to police that she had been mugged by a group of youths while jogging close to her home in Cockenzie. She suffered broken ribs and was knocked unconscious during the attack.
The latest party dispute has the potential to be highly embarrassing for the Scottish Labour Leader Iain Gray, the MSP for East Lothian, who has tried to distance himself from it. Yesterday, the SNP sought to make mileage from Mr Gray's discomfort.
SNP MP Angus MacNeil said: "If Iain Gray is unable to control the Labour Party's affairs in his own constituency, then why on earth would the people of Scotland imagine he could run the country?."
Ms Moffat said Mr Murphy had given her personal support and had taken the right decision to take a back seat.
In a statement, Mr Gray said: "This is a matter for the constituency Labour Party and the party at a national level. I am pleased that the National Executive Committee is seeking to resolve it and I hope that will happen quickly. My work as the local MSP continues as usual."
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