More than 50 MPs have signed a motion of no confidence in Sir Lindsay Hoyle, whose future as speaker of the House of Commons is in doubt after a chaotic vote on a ceasefire in Gaza on Wednesday evening.
Health minister Maria Caulfield said she would “struggle to support” Sir Lindsay after he undermined parliamentary convention and agreed to put to the vote Labour’s amendment to the SNP’s motion calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Dozens of Conservative and SNP MPs walked out of the chamber in protest.
Sir Lindsay, 66, was criticised after he decided the first vote would be on Labour’s amendment, before moving on to further votes on the SNP’s original motion and then the government’s own proposal for an, “immediate humanitarian pause.”
The House of Commons clerk warned him his decision was unprecedented and against parliamentary protocol.
Conservative and SNP MPs claimed he had made his decision to avoid Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer facing a revolt by his backbenchers, many of whom were thought to be set to vote in favour of the SNP motion.
Labour’s amendment was passed unopposed without a formal vote and afterwards Sir Lindsay issued an apology.
He said, “I thought I was doing the right thing and the best thing, and I regret it, and I apologise for how it’s ended up.”
By mid-morning on Thursday, 53 MPs had signed up to a motion of no confidence in Sir Lindsay, who was elected as Labour MP for Chorley in Lancashire in 1997 and became Speaker in 2019.
There is no formal mechanism for MPs to remove him but there is a precedent for Speakers resigning after coming under political pressure.
Due to Meet Penny Mordaunt
He is due to meet the leader of the Commons, Penny Mordaunt, later. She has already accused him of having, “undermined the confidence” of the House.Ms. Mordaunt blamed Labour for the debacle and told MPs on Thursday, “It fell to the government benches to defend the rights of a minority party (the SNP) in this House.”
She said the shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell should reflect on the “appalling consequences of her party’s actions” which she said had damaged the office of the speaker.
“I would never have done to him what the Labour Party have done to him,” Ms. Mordaunt added.
Sir Keir said: “The speaker did the right thing in making sure the debate was broad. But the tragedy is the SNP walked off the pitch because they wanted to divide the Labour Party and they couldn’t, and the government walked off the pitch because it thought it was going to lose a vote.”
He added, “We should have had a proper debate and a proper resolution with all three propositions being put to a vote.”
The chaotic vote and the MPs’ walkout overshadowed the debate on whether there should be a ceasefire in Gaza, where Hamas-controlled health ministry claims 29,000 people have died since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7.
Israel launched a ground offensive a few weeks after Hamas terrorists launched an attack over the border from Gaza which killed 1,200 people, including women and children.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday evening as the debate on the ceasefire turned into a political shooting match.
Ms. Caulfield said Sir Lindsay’s position was “difficult” following the fiasco.
SNP Furious With Sir Lindsay
The SNP’s leader at Westminster, Stephen Flynn, said it would be difficult to convince him the Speaker’s position was, “not now intolerable” and he said the SNP had been treated with, “complete and utter contempt.”Sir Lindsay’s predecessor as speaker was John Bercow, who was criticised by pro-Brexit MPs for a perceived pro-remainer stance during debates on Britain’s exit from the European Union.
