Rebel Tory spared withdrawal of whip
Ministers call for Boris Johnson to allow MPS to rejoin as latest dissenter is saved from losing the whip
Boris Johnson appeared to halt his purge of rebel Conservative MPS last night as he spared the latest dissenter. Dame Caroline Spelman, a former Cabinet minister and party chairman, voted against the Government on the so-called Benn Bill to stop the UK leaving the EU with no deal. But unlike the 21 Tories who defied party orders on Tuesday evening, she has not been expelled. A source at No10 said this was because the vote was not considered a “confidence vote”.
‘We have to offer them a way back, as we must remain a broad church’
‘I have made my views clear to the Prime Minister … the way to hold our party together and to get a deal is to bring them onside’
BORIS JOHNSON was yesterday confronted by senior Cabinet ministers calling on him to overturn his expulsion of 21 rebel Conservative MPS.
During a tense meeting in No 10, Michael Gove reportedly spoke on behalf of a series of senior figures, pleading with Mr Johnson to offer the rebels “a way back” so they can rejoin the party.
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, questioned the decision and asked the PM to spell out how the rebels could “find redemption”.
Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Nicky Morgan, the Culture Secretary, and Amber Rudd, the Work and Pensions Secretary, also spoke out, according to The Sun.
One Cabinet minister told the paper: “We have to offer them a way back, as we must remain a broad church”.
A No 10 source said the Prime Minister told the Cabinet ministers that he “has sympathy” for their argument, but held firm, insisting the rebels would “not support our manifesto” in a snap general election.
It comes after Mr Johnson appeared to halt his purge of rebel MPS.
Dame Caroline Spelman, a former Cabinet minister and party chairman, voted against the Government on the so-called Benn Bill, designed to stop no deal. Yet despite breaking the whip, she has not been kicked out of the party. A Downing Street source said Dame Caroline had not lost the whip as the vote on the Bill was not considered a confidence vote, unlike the vote a day earlier.
Members of the House of Lords who vote against the Government on the Bill will also not lose the party whip, as no divisions in the Lords will be treated as a confidence motion.
The Prime Minister was forced to defend the expulsion of the rebels at a meeting of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee yesterday evening.
Damian Green, the former cabinet minister, was among those who appealed for the rebels to be allowed back. In response, Mr Johnson said: “I can’t undermine the Chief Whip.”
Several MPS pointed out that the Chief Whip answers to the Prime Minister, not the other way around.
Lord Baker, a former party chairman, also spoke out in opposition to the cull. The peer insisted the party must remain a broad church. “If the Conservative Party is to govern successfully, and I support Boris Johnson
in his determination to leave Europe, reconciliation should be in the air.”
Meanwhile, Amber Rudd, the Work and Pensions Secretary, cut an increasingly isolated figure yesterday, shunning her usual spot on the front bench during Prime Minister’s Questions, and instead loitered behind the Speaker.
The former home secretary made no secret of her opposition to removing the whip from the rebels in an interview before Tuesday’s crunch vote.
Speaking on Women With Balls, a podcast by The Spectator, Ms Rudd said: “I have made my views clear to the Prime Minister that we should not be … trying to remove from our party two former chancellors, a number of ex-cabinet ministers, that the way to hold our party together and to get a deal, is to bring them onside.”
Appeals for reconciliation came as the associations of some rebels, including Philip Hammond and Dominic Grieve, began setting the wheels in motion on finding new candidates.
Mr Hammond was only reselected as the candidate for Runnymede and Weybridge on Monday. Fewer than 48 hours later, the association made a Uturn. The Daily Telegraph understands Mr Hammond was not made aware of the decision to oust him as a candidate.
David Gauke, the former justice secretary, wrote on Twitter: “Just received a text to say that my association chairman has been told that I am no longer a member of the Conservative Party.
“First I’d heard of that. Not even a member of the Conservative Party? I finally have something in common with Dominic Cummings.”
He later added: “Just received an urgent clarification. Membership still valid but barred from being reselected. I don’t have anything in common with Dominic Cummings after all. A happy note on which to end the day.”