Amongst all of recent dramas and developments at Westminster, one trend that may have gone under the radar is that one in 10 MP’s have changed their party in the current parliament. Only last week, whilst the Prime Minister was speaking in the Commons, the Remain MP Phillip Lee crossed the floor in a symbolic move to join the Liberal Democrats. The mainstream media repeatedly stated that British politics is increasingly partisan. However, the movement between parties would suggest otherwise.
The mind-blowing increase in MP’s changing parties can be backed up with numbers. Between 1945-1950 16 MP’s changed parties. Between 1966-70 31 MP’s moved parties. Since 2017 which is less than 4 years, 84 MP’s have switched parties. Chuka Umunna has switched parties 3 times this year alone. Many of the Conservative MP’s that have had the whip removed have refused to vote with their government on a key piece of legislation. Some Have suggested that these developments could signal a wider trend away from the Party politics that has been a key component of British politics. It would appear that members of Parliament are becoming more ideologically driven on each individual issue driven by party loyalty.
In addition to the political groundhopping, the election pacts that have occurred on the remain side in recent by-elections seems likely to be repeated between the Conservative and Brexit party if a general election was to be imminent. One issue that is likely to cause concern the British electorate concern is that an MP can defect and campaign on a polar opposite manifesto without the need for a by-election. A petition on the government website which expired last month titled “Automatic by-election if an MP resigns membership of their political party”.
This petition had over 47,000 signatures, however the government response to this was “formally, electors cast their vote for individual candidates, and not the political party they represent. The Government does not plan to change this constitutional position.” This may result in some suggesting that a separate Presidential style election maybe needs to elect the British PM if this is the movement we are seeing.
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Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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