Iraq — Weapons of Mass Destruction — 24 Sep 2002 at 21:45

The majority of MPs voted technically against the House of Commons adjourning. This this vote was in the context of a debate on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction and some have interpreted those voting "no" with the majority of MPs as voting against military action in Iraq.

The motion was "That the House do now adjourn," which is a procedural motion to allow a debate on an open issue.

The issue was the publication of the long-awaited Iraq's weapons of mass destruction dossier, for which Parliament had been recalled.

There was no vote planned, but some MPs held a vote anyway (voting for the House not to adjourn), after which the Speaker said:

  • Order. I have a statement to make. That vote has served its intended purpose, demonstrating the strength of feeling in some quarters of the House on this difficult issue, but because of the rules of the House it does not have any procedural effect. As it is now past 10 o'clock, the debate on Iraq has concluded. It is now the duty of the Government Whip to move formally that this House do now adjourn to bring the sitting to a conclusion, and I must put the Question forthwith.

During the debate Mrs Alice Mahon MP (Halifax, Labour) explained why she was voting saying:[1]

  • The only option for those who want to show our disgust that we might be dragged down this route to war is to vote against the motion on the Adjournment tonight. The public are expecting that. It is a betrayal of public trust that we have not been given a vote.

==

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |

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All Votes Cast - sorted by party

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party are marked in red. Also shows which MPs were ministers at the time of this vote. You can also see every eligible MP including those who did not vote in this division.

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
Ian PaisleyNorth AntrimDUP (front bench)aye
Kelvin HopkinsLuton NorthLabtellaye
Diane AbbottHackney North and Stoke NewingtonLabno
John AustinErith and ThamesmeadLabno
Mr Tony BanksWest HamLabno
Mr Harry BarnesNorth East DerbyshireLabno
Mr Andrew BennettDenton and ReddishLabno
Roger BerryKingswoodLabno
Mr Harold BestLeeds North WestLabno
Karen BuckRegent's Park and Kensington NorthLab (minister)no
Ronnie CampbellBlyth ValleyLabno
Harry CohenLeyton and WansteadLabno
Mr Iain ColemanHammersmith and FulhamLabno
Michael ConnartyFalkirk EastLab (minister)no
Jeremy CorbynIslington NorthLabno
Mr Tom CoxTootingLabno
Ann CryerKeighleyLabno
John CryerHornchurchLabno
Mr Tam DalyellLinlithgowLabno
David DrewStroudLab (minister)no
Paul FlynnNewport WestLabno
George GallowayGlasgow Kelvinwhilst Labno
Neil GerrardWalthamstowLabno
Ian GibsonNorwich NorthLabno
David HamiltonMidlothianLab (minister)no
Fabian HamiltonLeeds North EastLab (minister)no
Glenda JacksonHampstead and HighgateLabno
Mr Jon Owen JonesCardiff CentralLabno
Lynne JonesBirmingham, Selly OakLabno
Mr Terry LewisWorsleyLabno
Mr Iain LukeDundee EastLabno
Mr John LyonsStrathkelvin and BearsdenLabno
Mrs Alice MahonHalifaxLabno
Dr Jim MarshallLeicester SouthLabno
Robert Marshall-AndrewsMedwayLabno
Chris McCaffertyCalder ValleyLabno
John Martin McDonnellHayes and HarlingtonLabno
Mr Tony McWalterHemel HempsteadLabno
Julie MorganCardiff NorthLabno
Ms Linda PerhamIlford NorthLabno
Mr Kerry PollardSt AlbansLabtellno
Gordon PrenticePendleLabno
Mohammad SarwarGlasgow GovanLabno
Mr Malcolm SavidgeAberdeen NorthLabno
Mr Brian SedgemoreHackney South and ShoreditchLabno
Ms Debra ShipleyStourbridgeLabno
Alan SimpsonNottingham SouthLabno
Dennis SkinnerBolsoverLab (minister)no
Mr Llew SmithBlaenau GwentLabno
David TaylorNorth West LeicestershireLabno
Jon TrickettHemsworthLab (minister)no
Paul TruswellPudseyLabno
Desmond TurnerBrighton, KemptownLabno
Joan WalleyStoke-on-Trent NorthLab (minister)no
Robert WareingLiverpool, West DerbyLabno
Betty WilliamsConwyLabno
Mike WoodBatley and SpenLabtellno
Mr Paul MarsdenShrewsbury and Atchamwhilst LDemtellaye
Mr Richard AllanSheffield, HallamLDem (front bench)no
Ms Sue DoughtyGuildfordLDemno
Elfyn LlwydMeirionnydd Nant ConwyPC (front bench)no
Adam PriceCarmarthen East and DinefwrPCno
Mr Simon ThomasCeredigionPCno
Hywel WilliamsCaernarfonPC (front bench)no
Ms Annabelle EwingPerthSNPno
Angus RobertsonMoraySNP (front bench)no
Alex SalmondBanff and BuchanSNPno
Michael WeirAngusSNP (front bench)no
Pete WishartNorth TaysideSNP (front bench)no
Mr Roy BeggsEast AntrimUUPaye
David BurnsideSouth Antrimwhilst UUPaye
Jeffrey M. DonaldsonLagan Valleywhilst UUP (front bench)aye
Martin SmythBelfast Southwhilst UUPaye
Rt Hon David TrimbleUpper BannUUP (front bench)aye

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