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A Tory-voting mum who stunned Britain with a rant against tax credit cuts has become a regional boss of Momentum.

Mum-of-four Michelle Dorrell, 36, cried "shame on you" to Tory minister Amber Rudd before George Osborne was forced to ditch the hated policy.

Just 15 months later, she has been elected chairwoman of Momentum South East Kent - part of the left-wing pressure group set up to campaign for Jeremy Corbyn .

In a tearful speech described as "gut-wrenching" by Labour's leader, the nail salon owner said on BBC Question Time in October 2015: "I thought you would be the better chance for me and my children.

"You're about to cut tax credits after promising you wouldn't."

She was elected as the new chairwoman of the Momentum branch - which claims more than 450 members - at a meeting on Saturday.

Its social media posts include branding quitting MP Tristram Hunt a "mug".

(Image: BBC)

Ms Dorrell, from Folkestone, Kent, told the Mirror she joined Momentum in a bid to bring back "common sense socialism".

She said she voted Tory in 2015 because "they were saying the right things" after Tony Blair "wasn't true to Labour's core values" - but was then horrified when austerity hit her and millions of others in the pocket.

After her Question Time rant, she met Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Tory MP Heidi Allen before joining the Labour party in April.

She admitted "some would fear Corbyn because he's maybe hard left" but claimed Momentum was doing good and filling a void left by ex-Labour councillor Claire Jeffrey.

Ms Jeffrey, who is Jewish, defected to the Tories in September and accused Labour of "tolerating anti-Semitism".

Despite her new post Ms Dorrell does not agree with Mr Corbyn on everything - and slammed Momentum's national bid to affiliate to the Labour Party which will cast out non-Labour members.

(Image: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

"I think [ Jeremy Corbyn ] is very principled, I think he has an amazing legacy of what an MP can be - for 30 years he's been on the right side of history," she said.

"However, it's little things like the monarchy. I am a huge monarchist".

Ms Dorrell said local Momentum colleagues "strongly condemn" the plan to affiliate to Labour - announced without a formal vote by all members. Asked if she condemned it too, she said: "I do."

A resolution by the branch accused Momentum founder Jon Lansman "and his clique" of trying to "usurp and undermine democratic decisions" by Momentum's committee and said they could "no longer be trusted".

Ms Dorrell added: "I'm meeting up with people now who have never wanted to join the Labour Party who now want to join Momentum because they can use it as a platform [to help] the local community."

Momentum has defended its affiliation bid, saying 68% of members who replied to a survey backed becoming "more active in the Labour party ".

A Momentum spokeswoman confirmed Ms Dorrell had been elected as chair of the local branch and said: "The Tories lied to Michelle and millions of others before the last election, promising not to cut tax credits before trying to do just that.

"More and more people are seeing through the Tories lies and joining Labour. Momentum is part of that process, working in communities, reaching out to both voters and non-voters to encourage them to join the Labour Party and help build for a Labour government that will rebuild and transform Britain."

Despite tax credit cuts being dropped by the government, families will still be hit by similar cuts under all-in-one benefit Universal Credit.

Ms Dorrell proudly said she no longer receives "any state welfare", adding: "My business in the last year has gone into profit, like I said it would."

And she is now engaged to a 46-year-old gas engineer who she's due to marry this summer.

"Question Time was one of our date nights and I nearly lost him over it", she said.