So. Farwell then. Margaret ‘plague’ Ferrier. The least-loved Covid carrier in all of Westminster today suffered the ignominy of watching her colleagues vote to turf her out of parliament. Back in March, the Commons’ Standards Committee recommended that she should be suspended for breaching lockdown rules.
And this afternoon MPs voted 185 to 40 to approve a motion supporting her 30-day suspension: a vote that will almost certainly lead to a by-election in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency. Labour looks set to take the seat in what would be a timely boost to Anas Sarwar and Keir Starmer.
But the ramifications of today’s vote might not be confined to the southside of Glasgow. For one Boris Johnson is currently awaiting the outcome of his own Privileges Committee investigation into whether he misled parliament over breaches of lockdown rules in Downing Street. So Mr S was keen to get his hands on a breakdown of the MPs who voted in today’s motion.
Of the 60 Tories who backed Boris Johnson in October’s leadership contest before he pulled out, some 46 abstained today. But 11 of the remaining 14 voted against the motion to approve the Ferrier recommendation: Paul Bristow, Chris Chope, Richard Drax, Philip Hollobone, Edward Leigh, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Henry Smith, Bob Stewart, Greg Smith, Bill Cash and Karl McCartney. The other three – Lia Nici, Ian Levy and John Whittingale – all voted to support it.
A precedent for Boris Johnson? Or a warning shot to Rishi Sunak…
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