One of the Labour MPs suspended from the parliamentary party in a controversial move by Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer is one of the country’s most outspoken enthusiasts of rent controls.

Rachael Maskell, who now sits as an independent MP as a result of losing the Labour whip, spent much of 2024 campaigning on housing issues – usually using her York constituency as a peg for demanding national controls on elements of private renting.

In spring 2024 she joined former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in signing a Parliamentary Early Day Motion calling for rent controls – even though Labour, then in opposition, was opposed to such a policy. 

During the spring and summer of last year Maskell waged a campaign against Airbnb and other short lets, both in York and across the country, advocating planning laws per changed to make short lets more difficult to be set up by amateur and professional landlords. 

She wanted the Conservative government, in the final weeks of its time in power before the General Election, to bring forward legislation to allow local authorities to introduce local licensing schemes to determine standards and place limits on short term holiday lets; and allow councils to determine the terms for holding a license including the license fee, health and safety standards, terms of operation, and penalties for those in breach of licensing terms including fines and termination of licenses.

At the time she claimed there were some 2,000 Airbnbs operating within York.

However, the reason for Maskell’s suspension from the Parliamentary Labour Party yesterday evening was her persistent and outspoken opposition to welfare reforms put forward by Starmer and his Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall.

The other three MPs to lose the Labour whip yesterday were Neil Duncan-Jordan, Brian Leishman and Chris Hinchliff. Meanwhile another trio – Rosena Allin Khan, Bell Ribeiro-Addy and Mohammed Yasin – have been stripped of their trade envoy roles.