Lord Andrew Adonis looking to resign from House of Lords to replace Kate Hoey as Labour MP Exclusive: The Labour peer has put his name forward to become MP for Vauxhall in South London

Lord Andrew Adonis is looking to become the first life peer to relinquish his title and run for election as a member of parliament, i can reveal.

The Remain campaigner has put his name forward to be Labour’s candidate in Vauxhall, South London, which is currently held by Brexiteer Kate Hoey.

Ms Hoey announced her intention to step down at the next election in July after 30 years representing the constituency, which voted 80 per cent Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.

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It is thought the move would make the 56-year-old former minister the first non-hereditary peer to move from the Lords into the Commons.

‘Action in the Commons’

A friend of Lord Adonis told i: “Andrew is considering whether to seek a parliamentary nomination as the best way of helping Labour back into power in this national crisis.

“He has been fighting Brexit heart and soul, but the main action is obviously the Commons not the Lords and he relishes campaigning against the Tories and Farage.

“He has also been working on big ideas for how Labour should tackle the social divisions which are driving Brexit.”

The Labour peer took up his seat in the House of Lords in 2005, after working as director of the Number 10 policy unit under Tony Blair.

He served as an education minister and later as Secretary of State for Transport under Gordon Brown.

Earlier this year Lord Adonis was a Labour candidate in the European Parliamentary elections for the South West and Gibraltar, but was not elected. MEPs are allowed to maintain their peerage, but are unable to speak are vote.

MP selection process

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The party is in the early stages of selecting a candidate for the Vauxhall seat, which has been Labour since its creation in 1950.

However members in the constituency fear a candidate will be imposed by the Corbyn-allied national executive, after it decided to ignore a vote by the local party requesting an all women shortlist.

The move went contrary to Labour Party rules which dictate that a seat vacated by a sitting female MP should be replaced by another woman, until the parliamentary party has 50 per cent women.

A Labour spokesperson said of the decision: “The Labour Party has more women MPs than all other political parties combined and we are committed to improving diverse representation at all levels of the Party.

“In the next General Election, women candidates will be standing in more than two thirds of our key target seats.”