September 2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs

On 3 September 2019, the British Conservative Party withdrew the whip from 21 of its MPs who had supported an emergency motion to allow the House of Commons to undertake proceedings on the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill on 4 September. In the hours after the vote, the Chief Whip Mark Spencer informed the rebel MPs that they were no longer entitled to sit as Conservatives. This led to the loss of the Conservative/DUP majority in the Commons.

The suspended MPs included two former Chancellors of the Exchequer (Philip Hammond and the Father of the House, Kenneth Clarke), seven other former Cabinet members (Greg Clark, David Gauke, Justine Greening, Dominic Grieve, Oliver Letwin, Caroline Nokes and Rory Stewart), and 12 others including Nicholas Soames (grandson of Winston Churchill).

On 29 October 2019, 10 of the suspended MPs had the whip restored. Six stood down at the December 2019 election, while four contested it as Conservative candidates; all four retained their seats. Of the 11 who remained suspended, six declined to stand at the election, while five stood as independents or Liberal Democrats; all five lost their seats.

Background

In April 2019, Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow allowed Sir Oliver Letwin to table a motion that would allow MPs to undertake proceedings on the second reading, committee, and third reading of the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 5) Bill (also known as the Cooper–Letwin Bill) in one day. The motion was passed by one vote. Subsequently, the bill was passed as the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2019.

Several of the MPs had voted for Theresa May's ultimately unsuccessful Withdrawal Agreement, and subsequently continued to oppose a "no deal" Brexit scenario. They became known in the media as the "Gaukeward Squad" after their informal leader David Gauke.

In September 2019, Bercow again permitted Letwin to introduce a motion under Standing Order No. 24 (SO No. 24) to take control of parliamentary business away from the government, this time to allow for the passage of the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill, to be introduced by Hilary Benn on the following day. In anticipation of the vote, the government whips' office announced that voting in favour of Letwin's motion would effectively be "destroying the government's negotiating position and handing control of parliament to Jeremy Corbyn." On that basis, those Conservative MPs supporting the motion would have the whip withdrawn.

Rebel MPs

A total of 21 Conservative MPs voted for the motion:

Portrait	MP	Constituency	Parliamentary party status		2019 general election
60px	Guto Bebb	Aberconwy			did not stand
60px	Richard Benyon	Newbury		whip restored on 29 October 2019	did not stand
60px	Steve Brine	Winchester		whip restored on 29 October 2019	stood as a Conservative; won seat
60px	Alistair Burt	North East Bedfordshire		whip restored on 29 October 2019	did not stand
60px	Greg Clark	Tunbridge Wells		whip restored on 29 October 2019	stood as a Conservative; won seat
60px	Kenneth Clarke	Rushcliffe			did not stand
60px	David Gauke	South West Hertfordshire			stood as an independent; lost seat to Conservatives
60px	Justine Greening	Putney			did not stand
60px	Dominic Grieve	Beaconsfield			stood as an independent; lost seat to Conservatives
60px	Sam Gyimah	East Surrey		joined Liberal Democrats on 14 September 2019	stood as a Liberal Democrat in Kensington; lost seat to Conservatives
60px	Philip Hammond	Runnymede and Weybridge			did not stand, rejoined party in 2020.
60px	Stephen Hammond	Wimbledon		whip restored on 29 October 2019	stood as a Conservative; won seat
60px	Richard Harrington	Watford		whip restored on 29 October 2019	did not stand
60px	Margot James	Stourbridge		whip restored on 29 October 2019	did not stand
	Sir Oliver Letwin	West Dorset			did not stand
60px	Anne Milton	Guildford			stood as an independent; lost seat to Conservatives
60px	Caroline Nokes	Romsey and Southampton North		whip restored on 29 October 2019	stood as a Conservative; won seat[1]
60px	Antoinette Sandbach	Eddisbury		joined Liberal Democrats on 31 October 2019	stood as a Liberal Democrat; lost seat to Conservatives
60px	Sir Nicholas Soames	Mid Sussex		whip restored on 29 October 2019	did not stand
60px	Rory Stewart	Penrith and The Border			did not stand
60px	Ed Vaizey	Wantage		whip restored on 29 October 2019	did not stand

Aftermath

On 5 September, the Universities Minister Jo Johnson, who is also the Prime Minister Boris Johnson's younger brother, resigned from the Cabinet and stood down as an MP at the subsequent general election. The Daily Telegraph reported that Johnson's decision had been triggered by the suspension of Conservative MPs two days prior.

Two days later, on 7 September, the Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd resigned from the Cabinet and surrendered the Conservative whip in Parliament in protest at Boris Johnson's policy on Brexit and the treatment of the 21 rebel MPs.

On 9 September, the bill was passed as the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019.

On 14 September, former Conservative leadership contender Sam Gyimah, who was one of the 21, joined the Liberal Democrats. On 4 October, former Cabinet minister and former Conservative leadership contender Rory Stewart resigned from the Conservative Party, in order to stand as an independent candidate for Mayor of London.

On 29 October, 10 of the MPs suspended from the party in September had the whip restored. They were Alistair Burt, Caroline Nokes, Greg Clark, Sir Nicholas Soames, Ed Vaizey, Margot James, Richard Benyon, Stephen Hammond, Steve Brine and Richard Harrington.

On 31 October, Antoinette Sandbach joined the Liberal Democrats. On 5 November, Philip Hammond stood down as an MP at the forthcoming general election.

See also

• List of elected British politicians who have changed party affiliation