The Independent Group’s democratic deficit

The TIGgers will be hoping to spark an immediate bounce of interest today as they hold their inaugural meeting as a ‘party’. However, it seems cracks are already beginning to appear amongst the newfound chums. Until now, the only thing the Independent Group seemed able to agree on, beyond a desire for a People’s Vote, was their own steadfast refusal to hold by-elections following their defections –  which seemed to contradict their heartfelt belief that overturning one democratic vote requires another.

But, rather awkwardly, one of the merry bunch seems to have considered this before. In 2011, Sarah Wollaston sponsored a bill put forward by Chris Skidmore which sought to classify any MP changing political parties as having effectively vacated their seat, triggering a by-election:

As a principled member of parliament, Wollaston will presumably now be urging her new colleagues to seek re-approval from their constituencies. A request Anna Soubry, with her slender majority of 863 is sure to appreciate. Then again, considering the delight with which Heidi Allen and Anna Soubry appear to have abandoned their election commitments to respect the referendum result, maybe a remarkable flexibility on principles will turn out to be the TIGgers’ true unifying policy?