What does it mean for MPs to ‘lose the whip’ in Parliament?
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The Conservative MP had the whip withdrawn in January 2023 after comparing the rollout of COVID vaccines to the Holocaust.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
Vladimir Putin’s spymaster ‘has telephone call with MI6 chief’ as EU leaders meet to discuss Ukraine funding
Vladimir Putin’s spymaster has said he had a “rather lengthy telephone conversation” with the new head of MI6, Russian state news agency Tass has reported.
Sergei Naryshkin, Russia’s foreign intelligence director, said: “A few days ago, I had a rather lengthy telephone conversation with the newly appointed chief of MI6 [Blaise] Metreweli.”
He added that Russian intelligence officers worked officially in London while MI6 officers worked officially in Moscow, according to Tass.
Ms Metreweli took over as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service on 1 October.
Sky News military analyst Michael Clarke believes it shows Moscow is “trying to imply that the Brits are somehow appealing to them… because of the negotiations going on in Washington”.
Further US-Russia talks are expected to take place over the coming days.
EU talks stall amid fears over ‘Russian retaliation’
Mr Naryshkin’s comments came as the European Union held crunch talks on Ukraine funding in Brussels.
EU leaders met at the bloc’s headquarters on Thursday to discuss a plan to use frozen Russian assets – but tensions have arisen, with Belgium vocally opposed to the plan amid fears of Russian retaliation.
Most of the €190bn (£166bn) of assets frozen after the start of the war in 2022 are currently held in Belgium, specifically by Euroclear, the Brussels-based financial clearing house.
Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever said the plan to loan Ukraine the frozen assets “drastically increases the risk of Russian retaliation”.
“It’s not acceptable that this happens to Belgium alone,” he added. “If we jump, we jump together.”
Read more:
Brit who fought for Ukraine jailed by Russia
Belgian PM ‘sceptical’ over Ukraine loan plan
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he understands “the risks that he is talking about, but I think that we face bigger risks”.
“Ukraine has the right to this money because Russia is destroying us,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
In a post on X, he added: “The decision now on the table – the decision to fully use Russian assets to defend against Russian aggression – is one of the clearest and most morally justified decisions that could ever be made.”
Trump claims peace deal is ‘close’
Trump in the Oval Office on Thursday. Pic: AP
On the other side of the Atlantic, Donald Trump has been pressuring Ukraine to move quickly to secure a peace deal.
The US president’s envoys are scheduled to meet with a top adviser to Mr Putin in Miami on Saturday, where they are due to discuss the evolving US peace agreement aimed at ending the war.
Mr Trump has been optimistic that a deal can be reached.
“Well, we’re getting close to something, but I hope Ukraine moves quickly because Russia is there,” he said. “Every time they take too much time, Russia changes their mind.”
Russia ‘deploys nuclear-capable missiles’ to Belarus
Russia has deployed its latest nuclear-capable missile system to Belarus according to the country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko.
The authoritarian leader said the Oreshnik, an intermediate range ballistic missile system, arrived in the country on Wednesday and is entering combat duty.
He did not provide any further details.
Russia has previously deployed tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, the territory of which it used to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Democrats have shared more pictures from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, a day before the government’s deadline for the full release.
The 68 photos published on Thursday are among more than 95,000 images that the House Oversight Committee Democrats said they were reviewing.
They said the images were “selected to provide the public with transparency into a representative sample of the photos” and to “provide insights into Epstein’s network and his extremely disturbing activities”.
Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
But the Democrats added that they are still analysing thousands more images that are “both graphic and mundane”.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of those pictured in the images – and the context surrounding the photos is not known.
Mystery text quotes price for ‘girl’
The latest cache includes a text message appearing to discuss the price for a girl.
It isn’t clear who sent the messages and to whom, but the screenshot shows some details on an unidentified girl, described as a teenager here.
“I will send u girls now,” one of the texts read.
Pic: @OversightDems
Writing on body
Several pictures show handwritten messages on a person’s body.
One appears to be quoting the opening paragraph of the book Lolita – which can be seen in the background of the picture.
The book was written by Vladimir Nabokov and tells the story of a girl groomed by a middle-aged literature professor.
Another shows writing on a foot, which reads: “She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock.”
The writing appears to be quoting the opening paragraph of the book Lolita. Pic: @OversightDems
Another handwritten message. Pic: @OversightDems
Other messages can be seen on the neck, hip, back and chest, with the latter reading: “The tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down”.
In a different image, Epstein is pictured with three girls in his house in New York. One appears to be touching Epstein’s chest, one is holding her wrist up and another is looking at a laptop.
The identity of the women has been hidden.
Epstein with three women whose faces have been redacted. Pic: @OversightDems
Epstein with high-profile figures
Some high-profile figures also appear in the newly released images, with one showing Epstein sitting alongside Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousef Bin Jassim Bin Jabor al Thani.
He is the chairman and director of several privately established companies and is a member of the Qatari royal family.
Epstein with Sheikh Jabor Bin Yousef Bin Jassim Bin Jabor al Thani. Pic: @OversightDems
Another image shows Epstein with the former president of the UN General Assembly, Miroslav Lajcak, who held the role between 2017 and 2018. He is also a former Slovakian foreign affairs minister.
Last month, he told TASR news agency: “The reopening of the Epstein case occurred after I left New York, and the full extent of his inexcusable actions, which I strongly condemn, only came to light after his arrest.”
Miroslav Lajcak, former president of the UN General Assembly, next to Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
Shaher Abdulhak, a deceased Yemeni billionaire businessman whose son is a suspect in the murder of a Norwegian woman in Mayfair, was also pictured with Epstein.
His son, Farouk Abdulhak, fled to Yemen after the rape and death of Martine Vik Magnussen in March 2008 and has been wanted for questioning ever since.
Ms Magnussen was found dead among rubble in a basement in Great Portland Street.
She and her friends had been celebrating finishing their end-of-term exams at the Maddox nightclub before she vanished. Her body was found two days later.
Deceased Yemeni billionaire Shaher Abdulhak with Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
Epstein and Steve Bannon. Pic: @OversightDems
Also featured in the newly released images were former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, magician David Blaine, businessman Tom Pritzker, billionaire Bill Gates, director Woody Allen, talk show host Dick Cavett, Trump ally Steve Bannon, and Kuwait’s former information minister Anas al Rasheed.
Photos of identity documents with redacted names were also published, including one with text saying that “the bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor”, which could belong to convicted sex offender Epstein.
Also among the identification documents is a heavily redacted Russian passport. It belongs to a female, but other information has been blocked out.
The release also includes ID documents from the Czech Republic, South Africa, Ukraine, and Lithuania.
One passport appeared to belong to someone ‘convicted of a sex offense against a minor’. Pic: @OversightDems
Epstein’s passport. Pic: @OversightDems
Deadline looming
The picture drop came a day before the deadline set by a bipartisan bill that compels the US Justice Department to release the Epstein files within 30 days, which was signed into law by US President Donald Trump last month.
Mr Trump had promised to release the Epstein files during his ultimately successful presidential campaign, but he later made a U-turn, even going as far as calling the Epstein files a Democratic “hoax”, before eventually changing path again to sign the bill.
House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said ahead of the deadline that he believes the Department of Justice will release the files in time, and warned that there will be “strong bipartisan pushback” if they don’t.
“Based on my conversations with some of the top Democrats who’ve been working on this matter, related to full and complete disclosure of the Epstein files, we do expect compliance,” he told reporters on Thursday.
Full release going ‘down to the wire’
National security lawyers inside the Department of Justice are “working down to the wire” as Friday’s deadline for the full release of the Epstein files edges closer, according to Sky News’ US correspondent James Matthews.
He said those lawyers are mulling “how much is actually divulged in these documents”.
“There will be redactions… the question is, how far short of everything? How far short of the full story will the release fall?” Matthews said.
“The issue at the heart of it… where does Donald Trump feature? Remember, he emphatically denies all knowledge of Epstein’s criminal activities and any involvement in them.”
Read more:
Releasing the Epstein files: How we got here
Ghislaine Maxwell attempts to overturn conviction
‘Frustration building’
Meanwhile, frustration is building at the justice department ahead of the release, according to CNN.
A source has told the US broadcaster that there could be up to 1,000 redactions needed from each attorney.
Lawyers reportedly believe they aren’t getting clear or comprehensive direction on how to make the most information available under the law.
A previous batch of images featured more high-profile figures, including Donald Trump, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Bill Clinton, British entrepreneur Richard Branson, Emirati businessman Ahmed bin Sulayem, and singer Jimmy Buffett.
Several images of a sexual nature have also been released, including a picture of a bowl of novelty condoms with a caricature of Mr Trump’s face, and various sex toys.
Ghislaine Maxwell has filed a petition asking a US federal judge to overturn her sex trafficking conviction and free her from prison, claiming “substantial new evidence”.
The disgraced British socialite and ex-girlfriend of the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein is serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking.
In the petition, Maxwell’s lawyers argue that information which would have resulted in her exoneration at her 2021 trial was withheld, and that false testimony was presented to the jury.
They say the cumulative effect is a “complete miscarriage of justice.”
Read more from Sky News:
Rob Reiner’s son appears in court
White House plaques attack ex-presidents
Maxwell was jailed in 2022 for sex trafficking after recruiting young girls for Epstein during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Her latest legal bid for freedom came on Wednesday, two days ahead of the deadline for the release of the Epstein files – which include all material related to civil and criminal cases involving Epstein, who took his own life while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.
Ghislaine Maxwell said she would petition her conviction since August. File pic: PA/US Department of Justice
Maxwell’s lawyers have claimed that releasing the files – required after US President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Transparency Act – would harm her bid for a retrial.
The argument came in a letter from her legal team to a New York judge, which Sky News saw at the start of December. The lawyers argued the release of “grand jury materials from her case, which contain untested and unproven allegations” would “foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial”.
The letter also reveals the plan for the habeas corpus petition, filed this week.
The petition, filed in a Manhattan federal court, argues: “Since the conclusion of [Maxwell’s] trial, substantial new evidence has emerged from related civil actions, government disclosures, investigative reports, and documents demonstrating constitutional violations that undermined the fairness of her proceeding.
“In the light of the full evidentiary record, no reasonable juror would have convicted her.”
It is unclear what new material the lawyers are referring to.
In October, the US Supreme Court rejected Maxwell’s attempts to appeal against her sentence, meaning the petition or a presidential pardon from Mr Trump are her only chances at being freed before her projected release date in 2037.
Earlier in December a New York judge gave the go ahead for the US Department of Justice to publish material from Maxwell’s sex trafficking case, as part of the Epstein files release.
Democrats have released dozens of Epstein images
Several dozen photos related to Epstein have already been released by Democrats in the US, ahead of this week’s deadline for the release of the full files which are expected to include thousands of pages of material.
As it happened: Trump ‘knows nothing about’ images released
Last Friday, images of Mr Trump, Steve Bannon, former President Bill Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and others were shared by the Democrats on social media.
There was no suggestion that the pictures implied any wrongdoing. The US president, Mr Bannon, Mr Clinton and the former prince have all denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
Other images included sex toys and condoms with Mr Trump’s likeness.
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