‘I judge a man by one thing, which side would he have liked his ancestors to fight on at Marston Moor?’ So said Isaac Foot, the Liberal MP and father of Michael. For some Tories, both in and out of parliament, Friday’s assisted dying debate will carry a similar weight in judgements of character. Some 80 per cent of Tory MPs voted against Kim Leadbeater’s Bill at Third Reading, with 92 against, 20 in favour and five registered abstentions. Of the 25-strong new intake, elected last year, just four backed Leadbeater’s Bill: Aphra Brandreth, Peter Bedford, Ashley Fox and Neil Shastri-Hurst.
Social conservatives note that the Tories were much more aligned on assisted dying than Reform UK, which narrowly opposed the change by three votes to two. Only six Conservative MPs backed both this measure and Tuesday’s abortion liberalisation vote: Brandreth, Shastri-Hurst, Luke Evans, Kit Malthouse, Andrew Mitchell and Laura Trott. A striking number of senior Tories were among the 20 who supported assisted dying including Rishi Sunak, Oliver Dowden and Jeremy Hunt. Six shadow cabinet members backed it too including Mel Stride, Victoria Atkins and Chris Philp. ‘That’s the end of his leadership hopes’, remarks one opponent.
Among those who opposed assisted dying, there is praise for Kemi Badenoch. The Tory leader had previously supported the concept in principle before coming out strongly against Leadbeater’s Bill in November. Her argument centred on the legislative process: that insufficient time was dedicated to the Bill and that MPs ought to serve as scrutineers, not campaigners. Her robust stance since then has impressed begrudging internal critics. ‘She did do a good job’, admits one MP who backed a rival candidate. Friday’s vote showed Badenoch’s thinking to be firmly in-line with the majority of her own MPs on this issue. There is frustration among some of her supporters that if twelve Tory proponents had changed their mind, Leadbeater’s Bill would have been sunk.
Perhaps, in time, assisted dying will become accepted wisdom in Tory circles. Those in favour cite its public support and point to the party’s history of belatedly backing ‘progressive’ measures. In March 2003, it was a minority of modernisers who disregarded Iain Duncan Smith to back scrapping Section 28. Within five years, one of them, Boris Johnson, was standing for Mayor of London. Within ten, a Tory PM was championing same-sex marriage. But for those still reeling and angry from yesterday’s vote, it certainly doesn’t feel that way today.
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