Gove loses a commons vote, already…

His first day in his new job as chief whip and Michael Gove has already lost a vote in the Commons.

The vote, which was staged by Labour in a 10 minute rule motion, was over whether the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) should be responsible for testing the credibility of political parties’ economic plans.

Gove, who is now responsible for making sure MPs vote, didn’t seem up to the job – the majority of government MPs refused to vote, meaning that Labour won 203 to 16.

Alison McGovern, Labour MP for Wirral South, who introduced the Bill said giving the OBR this responsibility would be a “modest change” but would offer a “significant” benefit to the electorate, as it would give them more information about what’s going on in party politics.

In her speech, McGovern explained what the change meant and why she thought it was a good idea:

“This Bill would allow the OBR to independently audit tax and spending measures in the manifestos of the main political parties. I think this would provide tough and serious scrutiny for all political parties. In years gone by, economic forecasting owed more to it being an art than a science but the innovation of the OBR has done much to improve the transparency and the manner in which economics is discussed and debated in this place. This Bill would build on that reform and improve the way the OBR is able to contribute to our democratic debate about our economy.”

Although the Bill won’t be made into law exactly as it is, and as usually the case with 10 minute rule motions may be have to be passed through by MPs without a division, the vote doesn’t make for a good start for Gove…