What does it mean for MPs to ‘lose the whip’ in Parliament?

Published

3 years ago

January 11, 2023

admin

Andrew Bridgen has become the latest MP in the Commons to lose the whip after he compared the roll-out of COVID vaccines to the Holocaust.

But what does it mean to “lose the whip” when you are a politician?

And who else has faced the same fate in this Parliament?

What does it mean?

Losing the whip is one of the strongest punishments a political party can dole out to its MPs.

The move essentially expels the member from their party, meaning that while they can remain on the green benches, they have to sit as an independent MP.

The decision is officially taken by the chief whip – the MP in charge of party discipline, including making sure their members vote in line with the leadership’s wishes.

And the whip can be restored if the whip’s office deems it appropriate.

But without it, they are excluded from party activities and, at the following general election, may not be able to run for the party again.

Who has ‘lost the whip’?

Despite the severity of the punishment, it has happened several times since this Parliament began less than three years ago.

What follows is a list of the 20 MPs who have lost the whip in that time and what caused them to lose it. Some 15 of them remain sitting as independents:

Andrew Bridgen

The Conservative MP had the whip withdrawn in January 2023 after comparing the rollout of COVID vaccines to the Holocaust.

Chief whip Simon Hart said the North West Leicestershire politician had “crossed a line, causing great offence in the process”, and a formal investigation would take place.

Julian Knight

The Tory MP had the whip removed in December 2022 after allegations of serious sexual assault were made against him to the Metropolitan Police.

As well as being booted off the Conservative benches, the Solihull MP stepped down as chair of the digital, culture, media and sport committee.

But Mr Knight has said he is “entirely innocent of any wrongdoing whatsoever”.

Conor McGinn

Hours before Mr Knight was ejected from the Tory Party, Labour announced it was taking the whip away from St Helen’s North MP Conor McGinn.

The party said a formal complaint had been made against him, but did not reveal the nature of the complaint.

Matt Hancock

For former health secretary Matt Hancock, it was his decision to appear on ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! that saw him lose the whip in November 2022.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said “at a challenging time for the country, MPs should be working hard for their constituents” rather than appearing on reality TV.

But a source close to Mr Hancock insisted it was an “incredible opportunity” for an MP to engage with the public.

Christina Rees

In October 2022, Labour MP Christina Rees had the whip removed after a bullying allegation was made against her.

The former shadow Wales secretary, who represents the constituency of Neath in South Wales, said at the time she was “not aware of the details of the complaint” but was “fully cooperating with the investigation”.

In the meantime, she is sitting as an independent MP.

Christian Matheson

Labour suspended the whip from the City of Chester MP Christian Matheson in October 2022 after an independent panel upheld two allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

Mr Matheson apologised to the complainant for “the hurt I have caused”, but said he was “dismayed” to have been found guilty “of several allegations that I know to be untrue”.

Despite his protestations, he resigned his seat, triggering a by-election, which Labour won.

Rupa Huq

Labour MP Rupa Huq was suspended in the middle of her party’s annual conference in September 2022 after she told an audience that Tory chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was “superficially” black.

Her leader, Sir Keir Starmer, condemned the comments as racist, and Ms Huq apologised for her “ill-judged” remarks – but she remains an independent MP.

Nick Brown

Earlier the same month, former Labour chief whip Nick Brown was suspended from the party pending an investigation.

A complaint was made against the Newcastle upon Tyne East MP, but the detail of the allegation is still unknown.

Tobias Ellwood

Tory former defence minister Tobias Ellwood lost the whip briefly in July 2022 as a punishment for failing to back the government in a confidence vote – but it wasn’t quite that straightforward.

The chair of the defence committee wasn’t protesting against then PM Boris Johnson, but was in Moldova meeting the country’s president.

He later had the whip restored and now sits again as a Tory MP.

Chris Pincher

The ousting of former deputy chief whip Chris Pincher ended up being the catalyst for the fall of Mr Johnson.

The Tamworth MP resigned from his post and had the whip removed over an allegation he drunkenly groped two men.

Mr Johnson was widely criticised for his handling of the accusations, which triggered mass resignations from his cabinet.

Mr Pincher remains a member of Parliament while an investigation is carried out.

Patrick Grady

The SNP withdrew the whip from Patrick Grady in June 2022 after he was found to have made an “unwanted sexual advance” to a member of party staff back in 2016.

Mr Grady was also ordered to make a public apology in the chamber and to say sorry privately to the person who complained.

He later had the whip restored, but the party’s then Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, came in for criticism over his handling of the case.

Neil Parish

Tory MP Neil Parish had the whip suspended by his party in April 2022 after two women MPs saw him watching pornography on his mobile phone on two separate occasions – once in the Commons chamber and another at a committee.

The Tiverton and Honiton MP initially said he opened the file by accident after looking at tractors online, but later admitted that he returned to the site, calling it “a moment of madness”.

Rather than wait for an investigation to conclude, Mr Parish resigned from Parliament, leading to a by-election in his seat – won by the Liberal Democrats.

David Warburton

Earlier in April 2022, Tory MP David Warburton had the whip withdrawn after being accused of sexual assault and drug use.

An investigation is taking place, but the Somerton and Frome MP remains in Parliament, and he says he has “enormous amounts of defence”.

Neil Coyle

Labour MP Neil Coyle had the whip suspended in February 2022 after allegations he made racist comments to a journalist on the parliamentary estate.

Mr Coyle, who has served as the MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark since 2015, has apologised for his “insensitive” remarks.

An investigation is ongoing, and he was banned from the bars in Parliament.

Imran Ahmad Khan

In June 2021, it was revealed the Tory whip had been withdrawn from Imran Ahmad Khan, who was accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.

The case went to court and he was found guilty. He resigned as an MP soon after in order to fight an appeal, but he lost that case as well.

A by-election was then called in his Wakefield seat and it was won back by Labour.

Rob Roberts

The whip was removed from Tory MP Rob Roberts in May 2021 after a complaints panel found he made repeated and unwanted sexual advances towards a male former member of staff.

He was suspended from Parliament for six weeks and by the party for 12 weeks, but still sits as an independent MP in the Commons.

Jeremy Corbyn

Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn was suspended from the party in October 2020 – just six months after stepping down as leader – over his response to a report about anti-Semitism among party members.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission found Labour had broken the law with its handling of antisemitism complaints during the period when Mr Corbyn was in charge, accusing the leadership of “serious failings”.

But he claimed the scale of the problem was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.

Although he was readmitted to the party, Sir Keir refused to allow him back into the parliamentary party, so he continues to sit as an independent MP.

Claudia Webbe

Labour MP for Leicester East, Claudia Webbe, had the whip removed in September 2020 after she was charged with harassing a woman, threatening to reveal naked pictures of her in a string of phone calls.

She was found guilty in November 2021 and appealed against her conviction, but lost the case in May 2022.

However, she remains as an independent MP in the Commons.

Jonathan Edwards

In May 2020, Plaid Cymru suspended the whip from Jonathan Edwards after he was arrested on suspicion of assault against his wife.

The Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP accepted a police caution.

He was readmitted to the wider party in August 2022 to the anger of the party’s leader Adam Price, who called on him to step down as an MP.

Mr Edwards refused, but said he would not rejoin the Plaid Cymru group of MPs at Westminster to allow for a “period of calm reflection”.

Margaret Ferrier

The former SNP member Margaret Ferrier had the whip suspended in September 2020 after travelling to London with COVID symptoms and heading back to Scotland by train after testing positive.

The rules at the time meant she should have immediately self-isolated, and she was later charged with “reckless conduct”.

She was told by a court to undertake a 270-hour community payback order.

World

Romania scrambles fighter jets after Russian drone ‘breaches airspace’ – as Zelenskyy warns of war ‘expansion’

Published

13 hours ago

September 14, 2025

admin

Romania scrambles fighter jets after Russian drone 'breaches airspace' - as Zelenskyy warns of war 'expansion'

Romania has said a drone breached its airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine.

Fighter jets were scrambled on Saturday, coming close to taking down the aircraft as it was flying very low before it left national airspace toward Ukraine, defence minister Ionut Mosteanu said.

Romania is the latest NATO member state to report an incursion, with Poland deploying aircraft and closing an airport in the eastern city of Lublin on Saturday, three days after it shot down Russian drones in its airspace.

They are the first known shots fired by a member of the Western alliance during Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, military exercises are taking place over the Barents Sea, with Russia and Belarus conducting joint drills.

Russian MiG-31 fighter jets equipped with hypersonic ballistic missiles completed a four-hour flight over the neutral waters as part of ongoing “Zapad 2025” military exercises, the Interfax news agency reported on Saturday.

Romania has had Russian drone fragments fall on to its territory repeatedly since Russia began waging its full-scale invasion of Ukraine three years ago.

Two F-16 fighter jets were initially scrambled by Romania, and later two Eurofighters.

Citizens in the southeastern county of Tulcea near the Danube and its Ukrainian border were warned to take cover, the defence ministry said.

The ministry said the drone dropped off their radar 20km (12 miles) southwest of the village of Chilia Veche.

While helicopters were surveying the area looking for possible drone parts, Mr Mosteanu told private television station Antena 3 that “all information at this moment indicates the drone exited airspace to Ukraine”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that data showed the drone breached about 10km (six miles) into Romanian territory and operated in NATO airspace for around 50 minutes.

He said Belarusian airspace was also used for entry into Ukraine’s airspace.

Mr Zelenskyy described the reported incursion as “an obvious expansion of the war by Russia,” and called for “tariffs against Russian trade” and a “collective defence”.

He warned: “Do not wait for dozens of “shaheds” [Iranian-designed drones] and ballistic missiles before finally making decisions.”

NATO has said it plans to strengthen eastern flank defence, following earlier Polish airspace violations.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio called the Polish incursion “unacceptable and unfortunate and dangerous”, and said while it was unclear if the drones were intentionally sent to Poland, if it was the case, it would be “a highly escalatory move”.

Experts, including Sky News international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn have previously suggested the Kremlin is testing the West with gradual but steady escalation – a tactic known as “salami slicing”.

On Saturday, Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that he was “ready to do major sanctions on Russia”, but only when all NATO nations “do the same thing” and “stop buying oil from Russia”.

Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened sanctions against Moscow, so far without any action.

The president also said NATO members should also put 50% to 100% tariffs on China – and only withdraw them if the conflict ends.

NATO member Turkey has been the third largest buyer of Russian oil since 2023, after China and India, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, with fellow members Hungary and Slovakia also buying energy supplies from Moscow.

World

Donald Trump urges NATO countries to stop ‘shocking’ Russian oil purchases to end Ukraine war

Published

15 hours ago

September 14, 2025

admin

Donald Trump urges NATO countries to stop 'shocking' Russian oil purchases to end Ukraine war

The war in Ukraine would end if all NATO countries stopped buying oil from Russia, Donald Trump has said.

The US president, in a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, said the alliance’s commitment to winning the war “has been far less than 100%” and the purchase of Russian oil by some members is “shocking”.

Doing so “greatly weakens your negotiating position and bargaining power, over Russia,” he said.

A NATO ban on the practice plus tariffs on China would “also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR”, he added.

The president said NATO members should also put 50% to 100% tariffs on China – and only withdraw them if the conflict ends.

‘China’s grip’ on Russia

“China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia,” Mr Trump posted, and powerful tariffs “will break that grip”.

The US president has already placed a 25% import tax on goods from India over its buying of Russian energy products.

Mr Trump said responsibility for the war fell on his predecessor Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

He did not include in that list Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the invasion.

Village changes hands

On the battlefield on Saturday, Russian troops took control of the village of Novomykolaivka in Ukraine’s southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

A drone attack hit an oil refinery in the city of Ufa, around 870 miles (1,400km) from the border with Ukraine, the local governor said, calling it a terrorist incident.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Friday the 32-nation alliance would place military equipment on the border with Belarus, Russia and Ukraine to deter potential Russian aggression.

Operation ‘Eastern Sentry’ followed Wednesday’s provocative incursion by multiple Russian drones into the airspace of Poland, another NATO member.

Polish forces shot down the drones, which Moscow said went astray because they were jammed.

Prince Harry’s surprise visit

The Duke of Sussex made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Friday, promising to do “everything possible” to help the recovery of injured military staff.

Travelling on an overnight train to Kyiv, Prince Harry, who has since left the country, told The Guardian: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.

“We have to keep it [the war] in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.”

World

At least 32 people killed as Israel intensifies airstrikes in Gaza City, medical staff say

Published

15 hours ago

September 14, 2025

admin

At least 32 people killed as Israel intensifies airstrikes in Gaza City, medical staff say

A barrage of airstrikes has killed at least 32 people in Gaza City as Israel continued intensifying its offensive there, medical staff have said.

The dead include 12 children, according to the morgue in Shifa Hospital, where the bodies were brought.

Health officials said one of the strikes killed a family of 10, including a mother and her three children.

The Palestinian Football Association said a player for the Al-Helal Sporting Club, Mohammed Ramez Sultan, was killed with 14 members of his family.

Israel’s army did not immediately respond to questions about the strikes when contacted by the Associated Press news agency.

Israel has in recent days increased its strikes on Gaza City, having ordered residents to leave what it says is Hamas’s last stronghold.

Hundreds of thousands of people are still in the city, struggling under conditions of famine, which was declared by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) three weeks ago. Israel previously denied there is a famine in Gaza.

Aid workers say the number of people leaving has spiked in recent weeks, but many families remain stuck due to difficulties with transportation and housing.

Others have been displaced many times and do not want to move again, not trusting that anywhere in the Strip is safe.

In a message shared on social media on Saturday, Israel’s army told the remaining Palestinians in Gaza City to “leave immediately” and move south into what it is calling a humanitarian zone.

Sites in southern Gaza, where Israel is telling people to go, are overcrowded, the United Nations has said.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army said more than 250,000 people have left Gaza City – but the UN puts the number at around 100,000 between mid-August and mid-September.

The UN and aid groups have warned that displacing hundreds of thousands of people will exacerbate the dire humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said on Saturday that seven people, including children, died from malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours.

Israel has said it now controls 75% of Gaza, much of which has been reduced to fields of rubble. It has vowed to take the rest.

The current conflict followed Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when militants killed 1,200 people and took around 250 people hostage.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,803 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health authorities. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.