Motion to Sit in Private — 21 Nov 2014 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
Naomi LongBelfast EastAlliance (front bench)no
David NuttallBury NorthCon (front bench)aye
Tony BaldryBanburyCon (front bench)no
Harriett BaldwinWest WorcestershireCon (front bench)no
Peter BottomleyWorthing WestCon (front bench)no
Angie BrayEaling Central and ActonConno
Christopher ChopeChristchurchCon (front bench)no
Philip DunneLudlowCon (front bench)no
George EusticeCamborne and RedruthCon (front bench)no
David EvennettBexleyheath and CrayfordCon (front bench)tellno
Mark FieldCities of London and WestminsterCon (front bench)no
Robert GoodwillScarborough and WhitbyCon (front bench)no
Michael GoveSurrey HeathCon (front bench)no
Sam GyimahEast SurreyCon (front bench)no
Greg HandsChelsea and FulhamCon (front bench)no
Oliver HealdNorth East HertfordshireCon (front bench)no
Philip HolloboneKetteringCon (front bench)no
Andrew JonesHarrogate and KnaresboroughCon (front bench)no
Jeremy LefroyStaffordCon (front bench)no
Oliver LetwinWest DorsetCon (front bench)no
Stephen MetcalfeSouth Basildon and East ThurrockCon (front bench)no
Anne MiltonGuildfordCon (front bench)tellno
Penny MordauntPortsmouth NorthCon (front bench)no
Mike PenningHemel HempsteadCon (front bench)no
Daniel PoulterCentral Suffolk and North IpswichCon (front bench)no
Amber RuddHastings and RyeCon (front bench)no
Bob StewartBeckenhamCon (front bench)no
Desmond SwayneNew Forest WestCon (front bench)no
David TredinnickBosworthCon (front bench)no
Ed VaizeyWantageCon (front bench)no
Gavin WilliamsonSouth StaffordshireConno
Tom BlenkinsopMiddlesbrough South and East ClevelandLab (minister)tellaye
Nicholas DakinScunthorpeLab (minister)tellaye
Debbie AbrahamsOldham East and SaddleworthLab (minister)no
Heidi AlexanderLewisham EastLab (minister)no
David AndersonBlaydonLab (minister)no
Jon AshworthLeicester SouthLab (minister)no
Gordon BanksOchil and South PerthshireLab (minister)no
Kevin BarronRother ValleyLab (minister)no
Anne BeggAberdeen SouthLab (minister)no
Hilary BennLeeds CentralLab (minister)no
Luciana BergerLiverpool, WavertreeLab (minister)no
Kevin BrennanCardiff WestLab (minister)no
Russell BrownDumfries and GallowayLab (minister)no
Andy BurnhamLeighLab (minister)no
Alan CampbellTynemouthLab (minister)no
Ronnie CampbellBlyth ValleyLabno
Katy ClarkNorth Ayrshire and ArranLab (minister)no
Tom ClarkeCoatbridge, Chryston and BellshillLab (minister)no
Ann ClwydCynon ValleyLab (minister)no
Rosie CooperWest LancashireLab (minister)no
Jim CunninghamCoventry SouthLabno
Frank DobsonHolborn and St PancrasLabno
Maria EagleGarston and HalewoodLab (minister)no
Jim FitzpatrickPoplar and LimehouseLab (minister)no
Rob FlelloStoke-on-Trent SouthLab (minister)no
Caroline FlintDon ValleyLab (minister)no
Yvonne FovargueMakerfieldLab (minister)no
Hywel FrancisAberavonLab (minister)no
Barry GardinerBrent NorthLab (minister)no
Sheila GilmoreEdinburgh EastLab (minister)no
Mary GlindonNorth TynesideLab (minister)no
Helen GoodmanBishop AucklandLab (minister)no
Tom GreatrexRutherglen and Hamilton WestLab (minister)no
Kate GreenStretford and UrmstonLab (minister)no
Nia GriffithLlanelliLab (minister)no
Andrew GwynneDenton and ReddishLab (minister)no
David HansonDelynLab (minister)no
John HealeyWentworth and DearneLabno
Julie HillingBolton WestLab (minister)no
Sharon HodgsonWashington and Sunderland WestLab (minister)no
George HowarthKnowsleyLab (minister)no
Huw Irranca-DaviesOgmoreLab (minister)no
Siân JamesSwansea EastLab (minister)no
Cathy JamiesonKilmarnock and LoudounLab (minister)no
Diana R. JohnsonKingston upon Hull NorthLab (minister)no
Graham JonesHyndburnLab (minister)no
Kevan JonesNorth DurhamLab (minister)no
Susan Elan JonesClwyd SouthLab (minister)no
Mike KaneWythenshawe and Sale EastLab (minister)no
Barbara KeeleyWorsley and Eccles SouthLab (minister)no
Liz KendallLeicester WestLab (minister)no
Sadiq KhanTootingLab (minister)no
Ian LaveryWansbeckLab (minister)no
Mark LazarowiczEdinburgh North and LeithLab (minister)no
Emma Lewell-BuckSouth ShieldsLab (minister)no
John MannBassetlawLab (minister)no
Kerry McCarthyBristol EastLab (minister)no
Andy McDonaldMiddlesbroughLab (minister)no
John Martin McDonnellHayes and HarlingtonLab (minister)no
Liz McInnesHeywood and MiddletonLabno
Ann McKechinGlasgow NorthLab (minister)no
Iain McKenzieInverclydeLab (minister)no
Ian MearnsGatesheadLab (minister)no
Andrew MillerEllesmere Port and NestonLab (minister)no
Madeleine MoonBridgendLab (minister)no
Jessica MordenNewport EastLab (minister)no
Grahame MorrisEasingtonLab (minister)no
Ian MurrayEdinburgh SouthLab (minister)no
Sandra OsborneAyr, Carrick and CumnockLab (minister)no
Albert OwenYnys MônLab (minister)no
Toby PerkinsChesterfieldLab (minister)no
Jamie ReedCopelandLab (minister)no
John RobertsonGlasgow North WestLab (minister)no
Steve RotheramLiverpool, WaltonLabno
Frank RoyMotherwell and WishawLab (minister)no
Alison SeabeckPlymouth, Moor ViewLab (minister)no
Barry SheermanHuddersfieldLabno
Gavin ShukerLuton SouthLab (minister)no
Dennis SkinnerBolsoverLabno
Andrew SlaughterHammersmithLab (minister)no
John SpellarWarleyLab (minister)no
Mark TamiAlyn and DeesideLab (minister)no
Derek TwiggHaltonLab (minister)no
Valerie VazWalsall SouthLab (minister)no
Joan WalleyStoke-on-Trent NorthLab (minister)no
Phil WilsonSedgefieldLab (minister)no
Rosie WintertonDoncaster CentralLab (minister)no
David WrightTelfordLab (minister)no
Iain WrightHartlepoolLab (minister)no
David HeathSomerton and FromeLDem (front bench)no
Julian HuppertCambridgeLDem (front bench)no
John PughSouthportLDem (front bench)no
Roger WilliamsBrecon and RadnorshireLDem (front bench)no
Jonathan EdwardsCarmarthen East and DinefwrPC (front bench)no
Mark DurkanFoyleSDLP (front bench)no
Stewart HosieDundee EastSNP (front bench)no
Angus RobertsonMoraySNP (front bench)no
Michael WeirAngusSNP (front bench)no
Eilidh WhitefordBanff and BuchanSNP (front bench)no

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