Canterbury’s Rosie Duffield has set a record as the fastest MP to quit their party after an election, resigning from Labour with an excoriating letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the weekend.

The reaction has been mixed, with some describing her stance as principled, while a former leader of the local party has described her as “the worst MP I have ever known”. So what happens now? And will there be a by-election? Reporter Daniel Esson explains…

Why did Rosie Duffield quit Labour?

On Saturday Ms Duffield, the MP for Canterbury and Whitstable since 2017, left the Labour party just 86 days after her victory at the general election.

In a scathing resignation letter to the Prime Minister, she slated the new government over scrapping the winter fuel allowance for some pensioners, and taking free gifts from wealthy donors.

She wrote: “The sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice are off the scale. I am so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party.”

Ms Duffield added: “Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous.

“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”

Ms Duffield told KentOnline yesterday: “Leaving a political party that has been a huge part of my life for over a decade was of course a very difficult decision.

“I had been unhappy with the direction the party seemed to be taking on several issues, but having worked hard to return a Labour government for so long, I wanted to give Keir Starmer the chance to show that we would change things when returned to power.”

What does it mean for the political makeup of Kent?

When Ms Duffield was elected as MP for Canterbury in 2017, she was the constituency’s first Labour MP, and the only Labour MP in Kent, the rest being held by the Conservatives.

This remained the same when she was reelected in 2019, but with Labour’s national landslide this year, the picture changed significantly.

Kent has 18 constituencies, and 11 of them elected Labour MPs in July.

However, Ms Duffield will now be the only independent MP in Kent, with 10 Labour MPs, six Tories and one Lib Dem.

How have people reacted locally?

Despite Ms Duffield’s resignation hitting the front pages of national newspapers, the Labour leader of Canterbury City Council, Alan Baldock, declined to comment, as did the chair of the city’s party branch, Paul Todd.

However, the former leader of the city council’s Labour group, Dave Wilson, took to social media platform BlueSky to describe Ms Duffield as “the worst MP I have ever known - totally uncollegiate, selfish, and largely absent from her constituency”.

He added: “She misled her Constituency Labour Party to get her £91K a year job, which she barely bothers to do.”

In her resignation letter, Ms Duffield stressed: “My values are those of a democratic socialist Labour Party and I have been elected three times to act on those values on behalf of my constituents.”

But her former Canterbury Labour colleague Mr Wilson disagrees, writing on social media: “She was never really interested in politics, believe me.

“I’m not aware of Duffield ever espousing a political philosophy, and certainly never holding a point of view I would consider left-wing.”

Others have praised Ms Duffield, who was elected as Canterbury’s MP in the 2017 election by a wafer-thin majority, beating 30-year Tory incumbent Julian Brazier by 187 votes.

She was then reelected in 2019 and in 2024, increasing the Labour majority both times.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling said: “Rosie Duffield, an ex-assistant teacher, single mother and survivor of domestic abuse, won Labour a seat they thought was unwinnable.

“Post-Corbyn, she was returned to parliament with an increased majority. This is how Labour repays her.”

Tom Tugendhat, Tonbridge MP and current Tory leadership contender, said: “Rosie Duffield is right. In less than 3 months, Labour’s greed and sleaze has been exposed.

“Keir Starmer promised a government of service, but he’s only serving himself.”

Will there be a by-election?

Unless Ms Duffield stands down and returns to the ballot box as an independent, no. And she has told KentOnline she has no intention of doing so.

By-elections can be called through ‘recall petitions’, but they require the support of 10% of eligible voters in a constituency.

These petitions can only be created in rare circumstances: when an MP is given a criminal conviction with a jail sentence; when an MP is suspended from the House of Commons for 10 days or more; or if one is convicted for making misleading parliamentary expenses claims.

Ms Duffield could however resign the position of MP, triggering a by-election, and stand again as an independent to renew her mandate.

This would force other parties, including Labour, to find candidates to contest the seat again, and be a test of whether her successive victories were really hers or Labour’s.

However, Ms Duffield does not intend to go back to the ballot box.

“If I had switched to another political party and my views or pledges to my constituents had changed significantly, then I think that would also be the right thing to do,” she said.

“Recently, Natalie Elphicke and two other Conservative MPs changed parties to the Labour Party and the Party did not call for or trigger by-elections. None of my beliefs, values or commitments to this constituency have changed at all.”

But Mr Wilson argues there should be a by-election for the seat.

“Do I think there will be one? No,” he added.

“Do I think it would be the honourable and honest thing to do so soon after the general election in which she stood under the Labour banner and used Labour members’ time and efforts? Yes.”

Louise Harvey-Quirke, the Tory candidate defeated by Ms Duffield at July’s election, disagrees.

“By-elections are incredibly costly to the taxpayer,” she said.

“The new government are yet to demonstrate that they know how to be prudent with taxpayers’ money.

“On that basis, and that basis alone, I don’t believe we should have a by-election. I don’t think we can afford to.”

She added: “I sincerely hope more of her former colleagues follow suit and show this government that it must change policy.”

In the Canterbury Local Democracy Forum Facebook group, former Tory city councillor Darren Ellis said of Ms Duffield: “If she has any moral compass she should call a by-election.”

Do people in Canterbury want to go back to the ballot box?

Speaking to KentOnline in the city centre yesterday, Martin Hambrook said: “If she knows that she’s good enough for Canterbury, then she should put her money where her mouth is and do it.

“To show them that she is a true candidate for Canterbury she should put herself up. I know she’d win for what she’s done.”

Aaliyah Moncaster said Ms Duffield had been a better MP than previous representatives.

“If she carries on doing what she’s doing now then it’s beneficial, but if people don’t agree then they should have their say as well,” she added.

But Rory Strickland says he does not think a by-election should be triggered.

“She’s there to represent the views of the electorate - the people who voted for her,” he said.

“All too often people get into government and they’re whipped into voting for what the government wants, not what their electorate wants.”

Would Ms Duffield ever take back the Labour whip?

She told KentOnline: “I would need to see a return to the core values that made me join the Labour Party.

“I strongly believe that it is our duty to protect and improve the lives of those most vulnerable in our communities.”

Would Labour take Ms Duffield back?

Ms Duffield’s relationship with her party in Canterbury and Parliament has been fractious for some time.

Late last year, she was investigated by the party for liking a tweet by Father Ted writer Graham Linehan, which some claimed was anti-semitic.

The MP later complained that Sir Keir Starmer had not spoken to her during the investigation. She was cleared of any wrongdoing.

In an article for UnHerd in December last year she compared her experience of the new Labour leadership to her experience of being in an abusive relationship.

In 2022 she survived a ballot from the local party calling for an open selection process - which would have forced her to fight again for the position of Labour candidate.

In 2019, the then-chairman of Labour’s Canterbury branch, Ben Hickman, described her as “reckless” for her comments saying Labour is “probably” institutionally anti-semitic under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.

Does she have any chance of being re-elected as an independent in five years’ time?

Ms Duffield would likely face a struggle to keep her seat if she stood as an independent in the next general election - currently scheduled for 2029.

In July, only six independent candidates were victorious.

One was Jeremy Corbyn, the previous Labour leader who was banned from standing as a Labour candidate.

Another was Alex Easton, an independent unionist MP in Northern Ireland, formerly of the Democratic Unionist Party.

The four others were all elected on platforms focusing on the Gaza conflict, and criticism of Labour’s stance on it, all in areas with significant Muslim populations.

Kent has briefly had independent MPs recently - but only when MPs have lost their party’s whip, such as when Charlie Elphicke, former Dover MP, was removed from the Conservative Party temporarily.

It’s not unthinkable that she would be re-elected though.

In Dover in 1921, an independent MP was elected, and in Canterbury itself an “Independent Unionist” was elected in 1910. Though, both of these were before universal suffrage.

Asked if thinks it will be more difficult to represent Canterbury's interests as an independent MP, Ms Duffield told KentOnline: “Absolutely not. My team and I will carry on working exactly the same way as we have always done for our constituency.”

Why did Ms Duffield not vote against government measures she opposed?

Shortly after the July election victory, the Labour government announced it was scrapping winter fuel payments for most pensioners - with only the poorest to continue receiving the financial support.

When the issue was brought to a vote by the Tory party in September, Ms Duffield abstained.

Asked why she did not vote against it, Ms Duffield told KentOnline: “Because of the whipping operation by the government. That is a system of threats and consequences used by political parties to force MPs to vote the same way.

“Party discipline is important but many Labour MPs were, and still are, extremely unhappy with the government's decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance.

“I and some of my colleagues did not vote with the government and were punished as a result.

“We all hoped that they would respond to us raising our constituents' anger after that vote and change the policy in time for the Budget, but sadly they still seem determined to scrap the allowance which we know will result in many older people being considerably poorer and colder this winter.”

Separately, seven former Labour MPs had the party whip removed from them for voting against the new government on the two-child benefit cap.

Ms Duffield abstained from that vote, later posting on X that she would have rebelled, but could not attend as she had Covid.

Does Ms Duffield think MPs should accept any gifts or hospitality?

In recent weeks, the Labour party has been engulfed in a scandal over ‘freebies’, after it was revealed that millionaire Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli had donated clothes worth thousands of pounds to Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria.

Ms Duffield’s financial disclosures include a £350 ticket and lunch at The Open golf tournament when it was held at Royal St George’s in Sandwich in 2021.

She told KentOnline: “I think the occasional hospitality, sport, or cultural event which is connected to work or local interests is perfectly normal and acceptable.

“MPs get many such invitations. In my seven years as an MP, I have attended two big events - one just a few months after I was first elected was to the Brit awards with hundreds of other MPs across the House. At that time, I would definitely not have been able to afford to pay for an event like that. And one was a local sporting event a few years later attended by all Kent MPs.

“But personal tickets to concerts like Taylor Swift should be paid for, especially if you are taking members of your family - most people who earn a fraction of an MP salary have to save up and apply for tickets themselves.

“It is inexcusable for someone earning as much as Sir Keir Starmer was as Leader of the Opposition, to accept more free tickets than any other MP and clothes that cost more than many people earn in a year.”