Southport MP Patrick Hurley voted with the government on Tuesday, defeating a Conservative motion aimed at preserving universal winter fuel payments for pensioners.
The outcome paves the way for new measures that will restrict these payments to only the most financially vulnerable elderly citizens.
The decision is expected to impact nearly ten million pensioners across Britain, with an estimated 20,000 affected in Southport alone.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves made the surprise announcement in July, with the measures not previously appearing in Labour’s manifesto.
Labour say cost cutting is required to plug a £22bn overspend inherited from the former government.
In an open letter released prior to the vote, Patrick Hurley stated, “The public know that tough decisions need to be taken, and they accept that the economic circumstances we inherited need to be dealt with.”
Mr Hurley emphasized that pensioners would still benefit from the Triple Lock pension guarantee. He noted that this policy would lead to “significant” state pension increases for approximately 12 million retirees.
The Facebook page of Southport Conservative Association said that the MP: “should be feeling quite ashamed following his vote today” and that his stance was “a complete disgrace.”
The parliamentary vote saw the motion to block the changes defeated by 348 votes to 228, with 52 Labour MPs choosing to abstain.
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