The majority of MPs voted for members of the House of Commons Backbench Business Committee to be elected by members of political parties rather than, as was the case previously, by the whole House of Commons.
MPs were considering a motion[1] on the arrangements for operation of the Backbench Business Committee, including membership of the committee and the election of chair.
The committee is responsible for allocating certain periods of parliamentary time for "backbench business"; MPs can apply to it if they wish to get see particular motion debated in the House of Commons or in Westminster Hall.
The first paragraph of the motion stated:
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(1) this House endorses the principle that parties should elect members of the Backbench Business Committee each Session and thereafter when a vacancy arises in a secret ballot of all Members of that party by whichever transparent and democratic method they choose.
The amendment rejected in this vote was:
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Amendment (d), leave out paragraph (1).
MP Peter Bone explained the intent of his amendment during the debate saying[2]:
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The Government are proposing that future members of the Committee will be elected by party group. There are two distinct disadvantages to that proposal. The first—I suggest that this is the reason for it—is that it will give the Government, as well as the shadow Government, greater influence in deciding who is elected to the Backbench Business Committee. Through their Whips Offices, they will try to engineer more pliable Members to be elected to the Committee. I believe that this will make the Committee much more divided on party lines. In all the time that the current Committee has met, there has been only one vote, and that did not divide it along party lines. The Government’s proposal will reduce the likelihood that independent parliamentarians will be elected to the Committee.
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Secondly, the authority that members of the Committee hold is greatly enhanced by their being chosen by the whole House. Their mandate comes from Back Benchers of all political persuasions, not by a narrow party group.
The Backbench Business committee was previously elected by the whole house subject to constraints[3] that:
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(i)such a number of candidates shall come from each party represented in the House or those of no party as shall be determined and announced in advance by the Speaker, in such a way as to ensure that the committee including the Chair reflects as closely as possible the composition of the House, and
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(ii)at least two women and two men shall be elected.
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Debate in Parliament | Source |
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.
| Name | Constituency | Party | Vote |
| Rushanara Ali | Bethnal Green and Bow | Lab (minister) | aye |
| David Anderson | Blaydon | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Richard Bacon | South Norfolk | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Adrian Bailey | West Bromwich West | Lab (minister) | aye |
| John Baron | Basildon and Billericay | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Kevin Barron | Rother Valley | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Alan Beith | Berwick-upon-Tweed | LDem (front bench) | aye |
| Luciana Berger | Liverpool, Wavertree | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Brian Binley | Northampton South | Con (front bench) | aye |
| David Blunkett | Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough | Lab | aye |
| Peter Bone | Wellingborough | Con (front bench) | tellaye |
| Ben Bradshaw | Exeter | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Graham Brady | Altrincham and Sale West | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Tom Brake | Carshalton and Wallington | LDem | aye |
| Chris Bryant | Rhondda | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Karen Buck | Westminster North | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Robert Buckland | South Swindon | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Dan Byles | North Warwickshire | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Douglas Carswell | Clacton | Con | aye |
| Bill Cash | Stone | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Rosie Cooper | West Lancashire | Lab (minister) | aye |
| John Cryer | Leyton and Wanstead | Lab | aye |
| Jim Cunningham | Coventry South | Lab | aye |
| Philip Davies | Shipley | Con (front bench) | aye |
| David Davis | Haltemprice and Howden | Con | aye |
| Brian H Donohoe | Central Ayrshire | Lab | aye |
| Nadine Dorries | Mid Bedfordshire | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Clive Efford | Eltham | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Natascha Engel | North East Derbyshire | Lab (minister) | tellaye |
| Chris Evans | Islwyn | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Tim Farron | Westmorland and Lonsdale | LDem (front bench) | aye |
| Frank Field | Birkenhead | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Mark Field | Cities of London and Westminster | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Barry Gardiner | Brent North | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Andrew George | St Ives | LDem (front bench) | aye |
| Pat Glass | North West Durham | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Paul Goggins | Wythenshawe and Sale East | Lab | aye |
| Zac Goldsmith | Richmond Park | Con (front bench) | aye |
| James Gray | North Wiltshire | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Robert Halfon | Harlow | Con (front bench) | aye |
| John Hemming | Birmingham, Yardley | LDem (front bench) | aye |
| Kelvin Hopkins | Luton North | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Martin Horwood | Cheltenham | LDem | aye |
| Stewart Hosie | Dundee East | SNP (front bench) | aye |
| Stewart Jackson | Peterborough | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Bernard Jenkin | Harwich and North Essex | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Kevan Jones | North Durham | Lab (minister) | aye |
| David Lammy | Tottenham | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Edward Leigh | Gainsborough | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Julian Lewis | New Forest East | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Elfyn Llwyd | Dwyfor Meirionnydd | PC (front bench) | aye |
| Denis MacShane | Rotherham | Lab | aye |
| Fiona Mactaggart | Slough | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Jason McCartney | Colne Valley | Con | aye |
| Karl McCartney | Lincoln | Con | aye |
| William McCrea | South Antrim | DUP (front bench) | aye |
| Anne McIntosh | Thirsk and Malton | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Michael Meacher | Oldham West and Royton | Lab | aye |
| Andrew Miller | Ellesmere Port and Neston | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Nigel Mills | Amber Valley | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Austin Mitchell | Great Grimsby | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Grahame Morris | Easington | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Greg Mulholland | Leeds North West | LDem (front bench) | aye |
| David Nuttall | Bury North | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Matthew Offord | Hendon | Con | aye |
| Richard Ottaway | Croydon South | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Andrew Percy | Brigg and Goole | Con (front bench) | aye |
| John Pugh | Southport | LDem (front bench) | aye |
| Yasmin Qureshi | Bolton South East | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Nick Raynsford | Greenwich and Woolwich | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Mark Reckless | Rochester and Strood | Con (front bench) | aye |
| John Redwood | Wokingham | Con | aye |
| Jacob Rees-Mogg | North East Somerset | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Jonathan Reynolds | Stalybridge and Hyde | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Geoffrey Robinson | Coventry North West | Lab | aye |
| Andrew Rosindell | Romford | Con (front bench) | aye |
| David Ruffley | Bury St Edmunds | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Adrian Sanders | Torbay | LDem | aye |
| Virendra Sharma | Ealing, Southall | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Barry Sheerman | Huddersfield | Lab | aye |
| Richard Shepherd | Aldridge-Brownhills | Con (front bench) | aye |
| David Simpson | Upper Bann | DUP (front bench) | aye |
| Robert Smith | West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine | LDem (front bench) | aye |
| Bob Stewart | Beckenham | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Gary Streeter | South West Devon | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Graham Stringer | Blackley and Broughton | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Gisela Stuart | Birmingham, Edgbaston | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Graham Stuart | Beverley and Holderness | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Ian Swales | Redcar | LDem (front bench) | aye |
| Stephen Timms | East Ham | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Justin Tomlinson | North Swindon | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Andrew Turner | Isle of Wight | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Stephen Twigg | Liverpool, West Derby | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Andrew Tyrie | Chichester | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Michael Weir | Angus | SNP (front bench) | aye |
| Heather Wheeler | South Derbyshire | Con (front bench) | aye |
| Eilidh Whiteford | Banff and Buchan | SNP (front bench) | aye |
| Hywel Williams | Arfon | PC (front bench) | aye |
| Mark Williams | Ceredigion | LDem (front bench) | aye |
| Chris Williamson | Derby North | Lab (minister) | aye |
| David Winnick | Walsall North | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Pete Wishart | Perth and North Perthshire | SNP (front bench) | aye |
| Sarah Wollaston | Totnes | Con (front bench) | aye |
| David Wright | Telford | Lab (minister) | aye |
| Nigel Adams | Selby and Ainsty | Con | no |
| Peter Aldous | Waveney | Con (front bench) | no |
| Danny Alexander | Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Graham Allen | Nottingham North | Lab (minister) | no |
| Stuart Andrew | Pudsey | Con (front bench) | no |
| James Arbuthnot | North East Hampshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Norman Baker | Lewes | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Steve Barclay | North East Cambridgeshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Gavin Barwell | Croydon Central | Con (front bench) | no |
| Guto Bebb | Aberconwy | Con (front bench) | no |
| Henry Bellingham | North West Norfolk | Con (front bench) | no |
| Jake Berry | Rossendale and Darwen | Con | no |
| Andrew Bingham | High Peak | Con (front bench) | no |
| Gordon Birtwistle | Burnley | LDem | no |
| Bob Blackman | Harrow East | Con (front bench) | no |
| Nicholas Boles | Grantham and Stamford | Con | no |
| Peter Bottomley | Worthing West | Con (front bench) | no |
| Karen Bradley | Staffordshire Moorlands | Con (front bench) | no |
| Angie Bray | Ealing Central and Acton | Con | no |
| Andrew Bridgen | North West Leicestershire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Fiona Bruce | Congleton | Con (front bench) | no |
| Simon Burns | Chelmsford | Con (front bench) | no |
| David Burrowes | Enfield, Southgate | Con | no |
| Paul Burstow | Sutton and Cheam | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Lorely Burt | Solihull | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Alistair Carmichael | Orkney and Shetland | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Neil Carmichael | Stroud | Con (front bench) | no |
| Rehman Chishti | Gillingham and Rainham | Con (front bench) | no |
| Greg Clark | Tunbridge Wells | Con (front bench) | no |
| Tom Clarke | Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill | Lab (minister) | no |
| Nick Clegg | Sheffield, Hallam | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Damian Collins | Folkestone and Hythe | Con (front bench) | no |
| Oliver Colvile | Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport | Con (front bench) | no |
| Stephen Crabb | Preseli Pembrokeshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Edward Davey | Kingston and Surbiton | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Glyn Davies | Montgomeryshire | Con | no |
| Jonathan Djanogly | Huntingdon | Con (front bench) | no |
| Thomas Docherty | Dunfermline and West Fife | Lab (minister) | no |
| James Duddridge | Rochford and Southend East | Con (front bench) | no |
| Iain Duncan Smith | Chingford and Woodford Green | Con (front bench) | no |
| Philip Dunne | Ludlow | Con (front bench) | tellno |
| Angela Eagle | Wallasey | Lab (minister) | no |
| Maria Eagle | Garston and Halewood | Lab (minister) | no |
| Michael Ellis | Northampton North | Con (front bench) | no |
| Tobias Ellwood | Bournemouth East | Con | no |
| Charlie Elphicke | Dover | Con (front bench) | no |
| Bill Esterson | Sefton Central | Lab (minister) | no |
| Graham Evans | Weaver Vale | Con (front bench) | no |
| David Evennett | Bexleyheath and Crayford | Con | no |
| Michael Fabricant | Lichfield | Con (front bench) | no |
| Lynne Featherstone | Hornsey and Wood Green | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Jim Fitzpatrick | Poplar and Limehouse | Lab (minister) | no |
| Don Foster | Bath | LDem | no |
| Mark Francois | Rayleigh and Wickford | Con (front bench) | no |
| George Freeman | Mid Norfolk | Con | no |
| Edward Garnier | Harborough | Con (front bench) | no |
| David Gauke | South West Hertfordshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Nick Gibb | Bognor Regis and Littlehampton | Con (front bench) | no |
| Dame Cheryl Gillan | Chesham and Amersham | Con (front bench) | no |
| John Glen | Salisbury | Con (front bench) | no |
| Mary Glindon | North Tyneside | Lab (minister) | no |
| Robert Goodwill | Scarborough and Whitby | Con (front bench) | no |
| Richard Graham | Gloucester | Con | no |
| Chris Grayling | Epsom and Ewell | Con (front bench) | no |
| Damian Green | Ashford | Con (front bench) | no |
| Justine Greening | Putney | Con (front bench) | no |
| Dominic Grieve | Beaconsfield | Con (front bench) | no |
| Andrew Griffiths | Burton | Con (front bench) | no |
| Duncan Hames | Chippenham | LDem | no |
| Stephen Hammond | Wimbledon | Con | no |
| Matthew Hancock | West Suffolk | Con (front bench) | no |
| Greg Hands | Chelsea and Fulham | Con (front bench) | no |
| Mark Harper | Forest of Dean | Con (front bench) | no |
| Rebecca Harris | Castle Point | Con (front bench) | no |
| Simon Hart | Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Nick Harvey | North Devon | LDem (front bench) | no |
| John Hayes | South Holland and The Deepings | Con (front bench) | no |
| Oliver Heald | North East Hertfordshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| David Heath | Somerton and Frome | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Nick Herbert | Arundel and South Downs | Con (front bench) | no |
| Damian Hinds | East Hampshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| John Howell | Henley | Con | no |
| Simon Hughes | Bermondsey and Old Southwark | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Mark Hunter | Cheadle | LDem (front bench) | tellno |
| Julian Huppert | Cambridge | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Nick Hurd | Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner | Con (front bench) | no |
| Margot James | Stourbridge | Con (front bench) | no |
| Sajid Javid | Bromsgrove | Con | no |
| Gareth Johnson | Dartford | Con (front bench) | no |
| Jo Johnson | Orpington | Con | no |
| Andrew Jones | Harrogate and Knaresborough | Con (front bench) | no |
| David Jones | Clwyd West | Con (front bench) | no |
| Daniel Kawczynski | Shrewsbury and Atcham | Con | no |
| Simon Kirby | Brighton, Kemptown | Con (front bench) | no |
| Greg Knight | East Yorkshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Eleanor Laing | Epping Forest | Con (front bench) | no |
| Norman Lamb | North Norfolk | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Mark Lancaster | Milton Keynes North | Con | no |
| Jessica Lee | Erewash | Con | no |
| Phillip Lee | Bracknell | Con (front bench) | no |
| Oliver Letwin | West Dorset | Con (front bench) | no |
| Ian Liddell-Grainger | Bridgwater and West Somerset | Con (front bench) | no |
| Peter Lilley | Hitchin and Harpenden | Con | no |
| Tony Lloyd | Manchester Central | Lab | no |
| Jonathan Lord | Woking | Con | no |
| Tim Loughton | East Worthing and Shoreham | Con (front bench) | no |
| Peter Luff | Mid Worcestershire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Mary Macleod | Brentford and Isleworth | Con | no |
| Seema Malhotra | Feltham and Heston | Lab (minister) | no |
| Francis Maude | Horsham | Con (front bench) | no |
| Patrick McLoughlin | Derbyshire Dales | Con (front bench) | no |
| Alan Meale | Mansfield | Lab (minister) | no |
| Maria Miller | Basingstoke | Con (front bench) | no |
| Andrew Mitchell | Sutton Coldfield | Con (front bench) | no |
| Michael Moore | Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Nicky Morgan | Loughborough | Con | no |
| David Morris | Morecambe and Lunesdale | Con | no |
| James Morris | Halesowen and Rowley Regis | Con (front bench) | no |
| Stephen Mosley | City of Chester | Con (front bench) | no |
| Meg Munn | Sheffield, Heeley | Lab | no |
| Tessa Munt | Wells | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Andrew Murrison | South West Wiltshire | Con | no |
| Bob Neill | Bromley and Chislehurst | Con (front bench) | no |
| Brooks Newmark | Braintree | Con (front bench) | no |
| Sarah Newton | Truro and Falmouth | Con (front bench) | no |
| Stephen O'Brien | Eddisbury | Con (front bench) | no |
| Eric Ollerenshaw | Lancaster and Fleetwood | Con | no |
| James Paice | South East Cambridgeshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Neil Parish | Tiverton and Honiton | Con (front bench) | no |
| Mike Penning | Hemel Hempstead | Con (front bench) | no |
| John Penrose | Weston-Super-Mare | Con (front bench) | no |
| Claire Perry | Devizes | Con | no |
| Stephen Phillips | Sleaford and North Hykeham | Con (front bench) | no |
| Eric Pickles | Brentwood and Ongar | Con (front bench) | no |
| Christopher Pincher | Tamworth | Con (front bench) | no |
| Mark Pritchard | The Wrekin | Con (front bench) | no |
| John Randall | Uxbridge and South Ruislip | Con (front bench) | no |
| Linda Riordan | Halifax | Lab (minister) | no |
| Andrew Robathan | South Leicestershire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Dan Rogerson | North Cornwall | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Bob Russell | Colchester | LDem (front bench) | no |
| David Rutley | Macclesfield | Con | no |
| Laura Sandys | South Thanet | Con (front bench) | no |
| Andrew Selous | South West Bedfordshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Grant Shapps | Welwyn Hatfield | Con (front bench) | no |
| Alok Sharma | Reading West | Con | no |
| Mark Simmonds | Boston and Skegness | Con | no |
| Keith Simpson | Broadland | Con | no |
| Dennis Skinner | Bolsover | Lab | no |
| Angela Smith | Penistone and Stocksbridge | Lab (minister) | no |
| Chloe Smith | Norwich North | Con (front bench) | no |
| Julian Smith | Skipton and Ripon | Con | no |
| Anna Soubry | Broxtowe | Con | no |
| John Spellar | Warley | Lab (minister) | no |
| Caroline Spelman | Meriden | Con (front bench) | no |
| Andrew Stephenson | Pendle | Con | no |
| Iain Stewart | Milton Keynes South | Con (front bench) | no |
| Mel Stride | Central Devon | Con | no |
| Andrew Stunell | Hazel Grove | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Julian Sturdy | York Outer | Con (front bench) | no |
| Desmond Swayne | New Forest West | Con | no |
| Jo Swinson | East Dunbartonshire | LDem | no |
| Hugo Swire | East Devon | Con (front bench) | no |
| Robert Syms | Poole | Con (front bench) | no |
| Sarah Teather | Brent Central | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Edward Timpson | Crewe and Nantwich | Con | no |
| Ed Vaizey | Wantage | Con (front bench) | no |
| Shailesh Vara | North West Cambridgeshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Theresa Villiers | Chipping Barnet | Con (front bench) | no |
| Robin Walker | Worcester | Con (front bench) | no |
| Ben Wallace | Wyre and Preston North | Con | no |
| Robert Walter | North Dorset | Con | no |
| Angela Watkinson | Hornchurch and Upminster | Con (front bench) | no |
| Dave Watts | St Helens North | Lab (minister) | no |
| Steve Webb | Thornbury and Yate | LDem (front bench) | no |
| James Wharton | Stockton South | Con (front bench) | no |
| Chris White | Warwick and Leamington | Con (front bench) | no |
| Craig Whittaker | Calder Valley | Con (front bench) | no |
| John Whittingdale | Maldon | Con (front bench) | no |
| Bill Wiggin | North Herefordshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Roger Williams | Brecon and Radnorshire | LDem (front bench) | no |
| Gavin Williamson | South Staffordshire | Con | no |
| Rob Wilson | Reading East | Con | no |
| Jeremy Wright | Kenilworth and Southam | Con (front bench) | no |
| Simon Wright | Norwich South | LDem (front bench) | no |
| George Young | North West Hampshire | Con (front bench) | no |
| Kevin Brennan | Cardiff West | Lab (minister) | both |
| Vincent Cable | Twickenham | LDem (front bench) | both |
