Bid for Parliament to have say in leadership blocked by Tory MPs

An attempt to give Parliament a say in selecting future prime ministers has been blocked by Tory MPs.

SNP Cabinet Office spokesman Pete Wishart, bringing forward the proposal, said any prime minister should first be able to demonstrate that they have the confidence of the Commons.

The Prime Minister (Nomination) and Cabinet (Appointment) Bill was brought forward after Theresa May and Boris Johnson both previously first assumed office without a general election.

Mr Wishart explained that the Bill would have been triggered by any general election, the Queen accepting a prime minister’s resignation, the prime minister’s office becoming vacant for reasons other than resignation, such as death, or if they were to stop being an MP.

The Bill was, however, blocked from progressing after being defeated in the Commons by 115 votes to 55, majority 60, with Tory MP Peter Bone warning it could have meant the Speaker determining who would become prime minister.

Mr Wishart said: “Since 2015, the UK has had two prime ministers appointed outside of a general election, determined exclusively by the membership of the Conservative Party.

“This House must never again have an unelected prime minister forced upon it.”

The Perth and North Perthshire MP added: “A prime minister must be able to demonstrate that she or he has the confidence of this House at the inception.”

Mr Bone suggested the Bill could have meant Labour’s former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, heading a Conservative government, he said: “It would not have been impossible to see the situation where the opposition combined to vote for Jeremy Corbyn and maybe one or two disenchanted Conservatives joined that vote.

“We would be proposing to the Queen that Mr Corbyn was prime minister of a Conservative government.”