MPs reject opposition motion calling for inquiry into PM over Mandelson scandal

MPs have voted against an opposition motion that would have seen the Prime Minister referred to the Privileges Committee over the Mandelson scandal.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has accused Keir Starmer of misleading the House of Commons after he told MPs that “full due process” had been followed in Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador, alongside his denial that there was any pressure applied to approve the appointment and over the sequence of events around Mandelson’s vetting.

The motion was also backed by the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, the DUP and a selection of independent MPs.

Some 335 MPs voted against the motion, compared to 223 – a majority of 112.

However, 15 Labour MPs defied the party whip and did not vote against the motion as instructed, including Apsana Begum, John McDonnell, Richard Burgon, Brian Leishman and Emma Lewell.

In an address to MPs, Lewell said: “The way today’s vote has been handled by the Government smacks once again of being out of touch and disconnected from the public mood.”

Polling by YouGov revealed that 61 percent of people would like to have seen the Prime Minister face a parliamentary inquiry into whether he misled the House, including 49 percent of Labour voters.

Some 53 other Labour MPs were not present for the vote in the Commons, including Jonathan Brash, Dawn Butler, Stella Creasy, Louise Haigh, Kim Johnson, Clive Lewis and Josh Simoons.

Full list of Labour rebels on Privileges Committee motion

• Apsana Begum, Poplar and Limehouse
• Richard Burgon (Leeds East)
• Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby)
• Mary Kelly Foy (City of Durham)
• Imran Hussain (Bradford East)
• Brian Leishman (Alloa and Grangemouth)
• Emma Lewell (South Shields)
• Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford)
• Andy McDonald (Middlesborough and Thornaby East)
• John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington)
• Grahame Morris (Easington)
• Luke Myer (Middlesborough South and East Cleveland)
• Kate Osborne (Jarrow and Gateshead East)
• Cat Smith (Lancaster and Wyre)
• Nadia Whittome (Nottingham East)

Full list of Labour absences/abstentions for Privileges Committee vote

• Dan Aldridge (Weston-super-Mare)
• Tahir Ali (Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley)
• Rosena Allin-Khan (Tooting)
• Paula Barker (Liverpool Wavertree)
• Lorraine Beavers (Blackpool North and Fleetwood)
• Matt Bishop (Forest of Dean)
• Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool)
• Dawn Butler (Brent East)
• Sarah Coombes (West Bromwich)
• Yvette Cooper (Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley)
• Stella Creasey (Walthamstow)
• Josh Dean (Hertford and Stortford)
• Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth)
• Peter Dowd (Bootle)
• Neil Duncan-Jordan (Poole)
• Maria Eagle (Liverpool Garston)
• Cat Eccles (Stourbridge)
• Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley)
• Miatta Fahnbulleh (Peckham)
• Emma Foody (Cramlington and Killingworth)
• Gill Furniss (Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
• Barry Gardiner (Brent West)
• Gill German (Clwyd North)
• Jodie Gosling (Nuneaton)
• Louise Haigh (Sheffield Heeley)
• Fabian Hamilton (Leeds North East)
• Mark Hendrick (Preston)
• Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire)
• Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North and Cottingham)
• Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside)
• Ian Lavery (Blyth and Ashington)
• Clive Lewis (Norwich South)
• Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston)
• Navendu Mishra (Stockport)
• Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central)
• Pamela Nash (Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke)
• Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
• Simon Opher (Stroud)
• Sarah Owen (Luton North)
• Luke Pollard (Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
• Yasmin Qureshi (Bolton South and Walkden)
• Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill)
• Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston)
• Sarah Russell (Congleton)
• Naz Shah (Bradford West)
• Josh Simons (Makerfield)
• Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central)
• Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South)
• Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen)
• Jon Trickett (Normanton and Hemsworth)
• Laurence Turner (Birmingham Northfield)
• Chris Webb (Blackpool South)
• Michael Wheeler (Worsley and Eccles)

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