Theresa May throws weight behind chief whip amid calls for him to quit over pairing row
3 min read
Theresa May has insisted she has full confidence in her chief whip Julian Smith amid growing calls for his resignation over a row about the vote pairing system.
On Tuesday night Conservative chair Brandon Lewis sparked outrage when he voted on Brexit legislation despite an agreement to abstain given opposing Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson was on maternity leave.
The long-standing pairing convention sees MPs miss out on votes to cancel out absences from rival parties under such conditions.
Mr Lewis has insisted his votes on two knife-edge divisions were an “honest mistake” - but claims emerged this morning that chief whip Julian Smith told other Tory MPs to break the pairing convention.
According to the Times, three paired Tory MPs were ordered to vote but two refused to break the agreement which underpins trust between MPs in the Commons.
Mr Smith has insisted Mr Lewis was asked to vote “in error” and today Theresa May rowed in to support him.
Asked this morning whether she had confidence in her chief whip, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister said: “Yes.”
But on whether Mrs May had spoken with the enforcer-in-chief, the spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister is going to Northern Ireland today so I’m not aware of any other discussions she’s had.”
The spokesperson was similarly unable to say whether Mr Smith would face disciplinary action for what the Government has chalked up as an error.
However, Number 10's backing for the chief whip came as Tory MP Andrew Bridgen cast fresh doubt on claims the incident had been a mistake.
He told the Daily Politics: "I think the fact that Brandon Lewis abstained on six votes and then just mysteriously voted on the vital two - I think it tells you all you need to know."
'FULL EXPLANATION'
Shadow Equalities Minister Dawn Butler said both the chief whip and party chair should resign if they are unable to provide a “full, honest explanation” about the claims two other MPs were told to vote.
But a Tory source maintained that the single false vote was "cock up not conspiracy".
They told PoliticsHome there "would have been many more" broken pairs if party managers had ordered a mass disregarding of the arrangement.
A Conservative spokesperson said: "We have apologised for the fact that a pregnancy pairing arrangement was broken in error this week.
“No other pairs offered on the Trade Bill on Tuesday were broken.”
Lib Dem chief whip Alistair Carmichael demanded Mr Smith break with convention and make a statement in the Commons in a bid to restore confidence in the system.
“What happened on Tuesday night did serious damage to the pairing system on which we have all relied over the years,” he told MPs today.
But Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom rebuffed the demands, saying only that she would “redouble efforts to make sure that the pairing systems remain in place”.
Theresa May yesterday told MPs the incident "wasn’t good enough" and "will not be repeated", but insisted the Government takes pairing "very seriously".
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