Greenwich borough’s three Labour MPs voted different ways on the assisted dying bill in the House of Commons on Friday, with two supporting a change in the law and one voting against it.

MPs backed the bill, which would give some terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to end their lives, by 330 votes in favour to 275 against.

They were given a free vote, which led to disagreements between MPs from the same parties being aired openly in an emotional debate.

Greenwich & Woolwich MP Matt Pennycook and Eltham & Chislehurst’s Clive Efford voted for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, alongside Sir Keir Starmer and his predecessor as prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

But Abena Oppong-Asare, the MP for Erith & Thamesmead and a cabinet office minister, voted against, along with the deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader.

Pennycook, who is also a housing minister, said on social media that he was “extremely grateful to the many hundreds of constituents who took the time to write to me in advance of the debate to share their sincerely-held views and personal stories”. 

The bill, which was brought by  the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, still has many hurdles to clear in parliament before it becomes law. It would give terminally-ill adults with less than six months to live the right to die once a request has been signed off by two doctors and a high court judge. 

There was a similar divide among Lewisham’s MPs: Janet Daby (Lewisham East) voted for, but Vicky Foxcroft (Lewisham North) voted against. Ellie Reeves (Lewisham East and East Dulwich) was one of 38 MPs who did not vote.

Both of Bexley’s MPs – Labour’s Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath & Crayford) and the Conservative Louie French (Old Bexley & Sidcup) – voted against.

Francis said on social media that he had wrestled with the decision for many months and had concerns about clauses within the bill on mental capacity and coercion. “My job is to scrutinise legislation, not just decide if I support the principle or aims of a bill,” he said. “As a result, in all good conscience I cannot support the bill as it currently stands.”

• Elsewhere at Westminster, the former Lewisham East MP Heidi Alexander was named the new transport secretary, raising hopes that the government might look more favourably on plans to boost SE London’s transport such as the Bakerloo Line extension and handing Southeastern Metro routes to TfL. Alexander, who is now the MP for Swindon South, was Sadiq Khan’s deputy mayor for transport between 2018 and 2021.

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