So far, the Government does not seem minded to go after Speaker Hoyle after his sorry performance in the Commons yesterday. Speaking to the House today, Penny Mordaunt directed her ire entirely towards Labour:
“I would never have done to him (Hoyle) what the Labour party have done to him. The Labour party before principle,. . . the Labour party before the reputation and honour of the decent man who sits in Speaker’s chair.”
Fair enough, perhaps. The Opposition certainly has a case to answer, even if it strenuously denies reports that the Speaker “was left in no doubt that Labour would bring him down after the general election unless he called Labour’s Gaza amendment” by senior party figures.
Mordaunt’s position is something of a two-edged sword for Hoyle. The decision was ultimately his, and he conceded today that he made the wrong one.
By trying to put the blame entirely on Labour, the Government isn’t really exhibiting much respect for his office or his personal agency; a man so incapable of resisting improper pressure that he cannot bear responsibility for so doing does not belong in the Speaker’s Chair.
Moreover, even his own justification – concern over the safety of MPs – was totally wrong-headed. The signal Parliament sent to those prepared to threaten its Members yesterday was that their tactics work.
Thus, and despite the warm tributes paid him today by Mark Francois and others, some Tory MPs are not so prepared to overlook his central role in yesterday’s proceedings. At time of writing, 36 (including PPSs, despite the Government’s official line) have signed a no-confidence motion, tabled by William Wragg, alongside a large cohort of Scottish Nationalist MPs.
Moreover, one “senior Tory MP” told Newsnight’s Nick Watt: “A lot of us agree with William Wragg’s EDM but are reluctant to sign it. If the speaker doesn’t indicate by next week that he is going then lots of us will then sign it.” It would be quite something if Hoyle’s manoeuvre to get Starmer out of a tough spot ended up inflicting fresh dissension on the Conservatives.
We shall have to see how things develop. In the meantime, here is the full list of Tory MPs who have currently signed the no-confidence motion:
Philip Dunne has withdrawn his signature.