19 Tories vote against new mask regulations – and you can guess who they are

New mask regulations were passed by a huge majority in parliament last night.

Some 434 MPs voted in favour of the mask-wearing measures, with 19 Tories – and two rebel tellers – opposing.

The usual suspects were on the list of MPs voting against the bill, with ‘Britain Uncancelled’ backer Esther McVey among them.

Brexiteers Mark Francois, Andrew Bridgen and Steve Baker also voted it down, while Desmond Swayne – who once warned that we pay too much attention to health professionals – not registering a vote.

Baker said the government is “once again choosing that downward path towards, frankly, hell” by bringing in a new law telling people to wear masks in shops.

“I intend to chart a course towards heaven and I hope honourable members will come with me,” he added.

It comes after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed that eight further cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been confirmed in England, bringing the total number in the country to 13.

Boris Johnson said over the weekend that a “tightening up” of rules was needed “to slow down the spread of this variant here in the UK”.

The new measures include new testing requirements for travel as well as the mask mandate.

Full list of MPs voting against mask wearing

Steve Baker (Conservative – Wycombe)
Graham Brady (Conservative – Altrincham and Sale West)
Andrew Bridgen (Conservative – North West Leicestershire)
Christopher Chope (Conservative – Christchurch)
Philip Davies (Conservative – Shipley)
Jackie Doyle-Price (Conservative – Thurrock)
Richard Drax (Conservative – South Dorset)
Mark Francois (Conservative – Rayleigh and Wickford)
Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party – South Antrim)
Chris Green (Conservative – Bolton West)
Mark Jenkinson (Conservative – Workington)
Pauline Latham (Conservative – Mid Derbyshire)
Andrew Lewer (Conservative – Northampton South)
Karl McCartney (Conservative – Lincoln)
Esther McVey (Conservative – Tatton)
Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party – North Antrim)
Andrew Percy (Conservative – Brigg and Goole)
Greg Smith (Conservative – Buckingham)
Robert Syms (Conservative – Poole)
Charles Walker (Conservative – Broxbourne)
Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party – East Antrim)
William Wragg (Conservative – Hazel Grove)

Jack Peat

Jack is a business and economics journalist and the founder of The London Economic (TLE). He has contributed articles to VICE, Huffington Post and Independent and is a published author. Jack read History at the University of Wales, Bangor and has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.