All the PM’s men sweep out Remainers

Dominic Cummings leaves 10 Downing Street on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

After suffering his first government defeat in his first House of Commons vote since becoming Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had been “begging” for an election for two years.

However, despite this, Corbyn appears to have gone rather cold on the idea. In his comments in the Commons on Wednesday, the ­Labour leader said his party would not vote for an early election ­unless and until the anti-­no-deal bill had passed. This led to heckles from the Tory benches.

So, where does this leave proceedings?

Johnson says he does not want an election but could table a ­motion on Thursday calling for one. Meanwhile, Corbyn says he does want an election but also that he will not back calls for one unless certain caveats are met.

The scale of the government’s defeat on Wednesday suggests that when it comes to Thursday’s Commons business, Johnson has little control. However, there is a view within No 10 that Labour will be unable to keep up opposition to an early election as it is a line that will make the party look ridiculous. It’s still possible an election will be called this week.

The Conservative Party has undergone significant change in the past 24 hours. As a Brexit showdown looms — and reports of an imminent early election rise — a number of Conservative MPs have announced they will not be seeking re-election.

Former education secretary Justine Greening was the first to go. Announcing her decision, she said her party had become the Brexit Party and argued the Conservative Party was “narrowing down its appeal” to people across the country.

Alastair Burt, the former foreign office minister, has also made clear he will not seek re-election. Keith Simpson is also stepping down, however he puts this down to reaching the “ripe old age” of 70 rather than anything to do with Brexit. Former minister Philip Lee meanwhile defected to the Liberal Democrats. Former chancellors Philip Hammond and Ken Clarke, and former cabinet ministers Rory Stewart and David Gauke moved to the crossbench after voting against the government. Winston Churchill’s grandson Nicholas Soames was also among the 21 MPs to have the Tory whip ­removed.

On Thursday the list of departing Tory MPs will grow with a number of Brexit rebels insisting they will go ahead with their threats and vote to legislate against a no-deal Brexit.

The direction the Conservatives are taking under Johnson and his senior aide Dominic Cummings means that many of these MPs no longer view the Tory party as their home.

Under Theresa May, there was a constant effort for Brexit compromise — her cabinet was supposed to be made up of an equal number of Remainers and Brexiteers. The new government has no such intention — it is unasham­edly pro-Brexit and delivering Brexit by October 31 comes before anything else.

This means that it benefits from clarity of message — the first few weeks of Johnson’s government have showed what that means in terms of positive communications. The party is also receiving a popularity boost according to recent polls. But a consequence of that is that there are some Tory MPs who no longer feel able to remain in the party.

In the event of an election, ­expect the Conservative parliamentary party that returns to look different. Retiring opponents of no deal are likely to be replaced by ­devoted advocates of it.

There’s a view in government that there is little point having an election only to return with a divided party which still cannot agree a plan on Brexit.

After Brexit is delivered, there is a hope in government that the divisions will heal. However, until then, the priority is reuniting the Brexit vote — not keeping MPs like Justine Greening on side.

The Spectator