Motion to Sit in Private — 13 Jul 2012 at 09:30

The majority of MPs voted not to hold a private session of the House of Commons.

The text of the motion rejected in the vote was:

  • That the House sit in private.

The House of Commons' Standing Order No. 163 says:

  • If at any sitting of the House... any Member moves 'That the House sit in private' the Speaker... shall forthwith put the question 'That the House sit in private', and such question, though opposed, may be decided after the expiration of the time for opposed business, but such a Motion may be made no more than once in any sitting.

Moving the motion to sit in private is almost always a procedural tactic. By ensuring the defeat of a motion to sit in private at the beginning of the sitting, the mover makes it impossible for any member to move the motion during a subsequent debate.

If such a motion is brought during the debate on a Bill, and fewer than 40 MPs vote in it, then the debate ends immediately regardless of the result (following Standing Order 44). Such an ending of debate occurred on the 14th of March 2003. The points of order following that division show MPs questioning the appropriateness of the tactic.

Moving a motion to sit in private is often done first thing on a Friday morning. Moving the motion ensures it can't be moved later in the day, when MPs might have returned to their constituencies for the weekend and too few members may be present to reach the 40 member threshold leading to the discussion of the business before the house (typically private members' Bills) being brought to an end.

See also What is a motion to sit in private? from the PublicWhip FAQ.

Debate in Parliament | 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
Peter BoneWellingboroughCon (front bench)tellaye
David NuttallBury NorthCon (front bench)tellaye
Richard OttawayCroydon SouthCon (front bench)aye
Gavin BarwellCroydon CentralConno
Richard BenyonNewburyCon (front bench)no
Crispin BluntReigateCon (front bench)no
Karen BradleyStaffordshire MoorlandsCon (front bench)no
James BrokenshireOld Bexley and SidcupCon (front bench)no
Therese CoffeySuffolk CoastalConno
Philip DaviesShipleyCon (front bench)no
Alan DuncanRutland and MeltonCon (front bench)no
Jonathan EvansCardiff NorthConno
Michael FabricantLichfieldCon (front bench)no
Roger GaleNorth ThanetCon (front bench)no
David GaukeSouth West HertfordshireCon (front bench)no
Nick GibbBognor Regis and LittlehamptonCon (front bench)no
Robert GoodwillScarborough and WhitbyCon (front bench)tellno
Sam GyimahEast SurreyCon (front bench)no
Richard HarringtonWatfordCon (front bench)no
Rebecca HarrisCastle PointCon (front bench)no
Philip HolloboneKetteringCon (front bench)no
Nick HurdRuislip, Northwood and PinnerCon (front bench)no
Jo JohnsonOrpingtonConno
Andrew JonesHarrogate and KnaresboroughCon (front bench)no
David LidingtonAylesburyCon (front bench)no
Patrick McLoughlinDerbyshire DalesCon (front bench)no
Maria MillerBasingstokeCon (front bench)no
Bob NeillBromley and ChislehurstCon (front bench)no
Brooks NewmarkBraintreeCon (front bench)no
Caroline NokesRomsey and Southampton NorthCon (front bench)no
Matthew OffordHendonConno
Mike PenningHemel HempsteadCon (front bench)no
John PenroseWeston-Super-MareCon (front bench)no
Stephen PhillipsSleaford and North HykehamCon (front bench)no
Mark PriskHertford and StortfordCon (front bench)no
John RandallUxbridge and South RuislipCon (front bench)no
Jacob Rees-MoggNorth East SomersetCon (front bench)no
Alec ShelbrookeElmet and RothwellConno
Iain StewartMilton Keynes SouthCon (front bench)no
Shailesh VaraNorth West CambridgeshireCon (front bench)tellno
Theresa VilliersChipping BarnetCon (front bench)no
Robin WalkerWorcesterCon (front bench)no
Angela WatkinsonHornchurch and UpminsterCon (front bench)no
Jeremy WrightKenilworth and SouthamCon (front bench)no
George YoungNorth West HampshireCon (front bench)no
Alan CampbellTynemouthLab (minister)no
Tony CunninghamWorkingtonLab (minister)no
Jim FitzpatrickPoplar and LimehouseLab (minister)no
Rob FlelloStoke-on-Trent SouthLab (minister)no
Tom GreatrexRutherglen and Hamilton WestLab (minister)no
David HansonDelynLab (minister)no
Mark HendrickPrestonLab (minister)no
Julie HillingBolton WestLab (minister)no
Ian LucasWrexhamLab (minister)no
Gordon MarsdenBlackpool SouthLab (minister)no
Jon TrickettHemsworthLab (minister)no
David WinnickWalsall NorthLab (minister)no
Paul BurstowSutton and CheamLDem (front bench)no
Nick HarveyNorth DevonLDem (front bench)no

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