Tuesday, 13 November 2018

Counting to zero

List of Tory MPs who have, as of tonight, said, or strongly hinted, they will vote against Withdrawal Agreement in whatever form it is present.
  1. DD
  2. Andrea Jenkyns
  3. Peter Bone
  4. Conor Burns
  5. Bernard Jenkins
  6. Bill Cash
  7. Steve Baker
  8. Charlie Elphike
  9. Stewart Jackson
  10. BJ
  11. JRM
  12. IDS
  13. Mark Francois
  14. John Redwood 
  15. Sarah Woolaston
  16. Justine Greening
  17. Jo Johnson
Plus Kate Hoey, one of the Labour MPs who the PM might expect to rebel, has come out strongly against. 

Only 7 Labour MPs voted with the Government last year. 
  1. Ronnie Campbell
  2. Frank Field
  3. Kelvin Hopkins
  4. John Mann
  5. Dennis Skinner
  6. Graham Stringer
  7. Kate Hoey
If the DUP abstain, the only conceivable route to a Parliamentary Majority for the PM is for most of those 17 to abstain. If they vote against (or most of them do), it can't pass. If the DUP vote against, it can't pass.

For: 315 - 17 (and counting) + 6 (maybe) = 304

I could imagine a situation in which Corbyn whipped Labour to abstain, given that he wants Brexit to happen. But he wants a General Election to happen far more than he wants Brexit, and the only possible route to a GE is for the Government to collapse over Brexit. 

Against: 258 (including Field) - 7 (maybe) + 35 (SNP) + 12 (LD) + 1 (Green) = 298 

Add 10 DUP to that number and/or 7 rabid Brexiteers and/or 7 Tory 'Remoaners' and the deal falls.

How does PM secure DUP vote? And even if she can, can she secure enough Labour rebels to offset inevitable defections by some or all of the 17 listed above, plus others who are less media savvy or just quieter? 

Of course, this is all rather irrelevant if she can't get the deal past the Cabinet tomorrow.

11 comments:

Silk said...

18. Andrew Brigden

Silk said...

19. Dominic Grieve

Silk said...

20. Phillip Lee
21. John Redwood

Silk said...

22. Anna Soubury

Silk said...

23. Shailesh Vara

Silk said...

24. Rabb
25. McVey

Silk said...

26. Suella Braverman

Silk said...

27. Anne-Marie Trevelyan

Silk said...

Deleting IDS, who is clearly trying to reverse ferret now, expressing "concerns". So that bumps us back to 26.

Unfortunately for the PM, the DUP are signalling pretty clearly to the PM that they would vote against. Which takes us to 36 against.

Hard to see how the PM is going to find 25+ Labour rebels to counterbalance those.

Silk said...

27. Ranil Jayawardena

Silk said...

A more complete list than mine exists

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexwickham/here-are-all-the-tory-mps-who-have-indicated-so-far-that

It has 75 names on it.

However, it seems to me that Troy Brexiters are slowly waking up to reality. There is no majority in the house for any form of 'harder' Brexit. It's this Brexit, or Remain. My guess is that when push comes to shove, most of them will vote for the deal or abstain.

The deal therefore stands or falls not so much on what the ERG or DUP do, but the degree to which Tory remainers are willing to defy their party. Interestingly Ken Clarke says he won't. Is this because he's more worried out the consequences of further uncertainty, or because he thinks that voting for this deal will cause the ERG to vote against?

If Tory remainers outweigh Labour rebels, the deal will fail to pass the House. If Tory remainers fall in line, I suspect it will pass. Having identified the right-wingers as the larger group, May's tactics seem spot on - to threaten Remain in an attempt to bounce the ERG into supporting her. It seems to be working...