Five senior London Labour MPs rebelled last night in a vote against the closure of post offices.

They were among 19 who joined the Conservatives to demand a halt to plans to shut more than 2,500 branches, slashing the Government's majority to 20.

The London rebels were Hendon's Andrew Dismore; Vauxhall MP Kate Hoey; Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington; Jeremy Corbyn, Islington North; and John McDonnell, MP for Hayes & Harlington. Luton North Labour MP Kelvin Hopkins also joined the rebels.

It is highly unusual for so many Labour backbenchers to support a Conservative motion. Shadow business minister Alan Duncan said after the vote that the "hunt was on" for Labour

MPs who had voted with the Government despite having campaigned against local closures affecting their constituencies.

HOW THEY VOTED

Voted with Government: Ann Keen (Brentford & Isleworth), Stephen Timms (East Ham), Joan Ruddock (Lewisham Deptford), Sadiq Khan (Tooting), Joan Ryan (Enfield North), Andrew Slaughter (Ealing Acton & Shepherd's Bush), Dawn Bulter (Brent South), Nick Raysnford (Greenwich & Woolwich), Emily Thornberry (Islington South & Finsbury), Andy Love (Edmonton), Martin Linton (Battersea), Jon Cruddas (Dagenham), Mike Gapes (Ilford South).

Did not vote: David Lammy, (Tottenham) Glenda Jackson, (Hampstead & Highgate)

Link to:

Opinion, comment, your views

Andrew Gilligan

Fed up with railway fiascos? Join me on the road to freedom

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown

Tame London's 4x4 parking road hogs

Viv Groskop

These maps of offences in your area are a real crime

Charlotte Ross

Why I’m pining for Christmas already

Rachel Johnson

Be warned, I'm not in surly city mode

Rate cut brings limited relief

It is a decision that will result in real savings for many mortgage payers, but it may cause wider problems

Future of BBC D-G in doubt after scandals

There is growing speculation that Mark Thompson's reign as Director General of the BBC may come to an end sooner rather than later

All stories

Don't miss...

• 

  Climate of fear

  Teenagers talk for the first time about shocking new levels of sexual violence in London as a charity chief says post-code gangs are now using multiple rape as a weapon to enforce their will

  ---

• 

  Shaggy chic

  Fend off the cold in true fashionista style and become an abominable show-woman

  ---

• 

  The Miller’s tale revisited

  For a decade the director has complained that no one wanted him in London. Now Jonathan Miller is back at ENO — with a radical new production of La Bohème inspired by Brassaï

  ---

• 

  Influentials 2009

  From finance to fashion and politics to property, the past 12 months have seen dramatic changes in who wields influence in the capital. So who are the up-and-coming power players in London this year?

  ---

Pick of the blogs

Paul Waugh - Politics

Lib Dems swing both ways on council tax arrears

Richard Godwin - A London Life

A sound thrashing has cleared my head