Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson is 0-for-8 in parliament after MPs rejected the government’s bid for a three-day parliamentary recess next week.
Hoping to break for the Conservative Party’s annual conference, Johnson submitted a motion seeking a short recess which voted down by 306 votes to 289.
Typically conference recesses are granted as a formality, but opposition parties united to block the three-day break in protest at the government’s five-week suspension of parliament earlier this month.
A number of former Conservative MPs including David Gauke, Ken Clarke and Dominic Grieve – sacked by Boris Johnson for voting against the government on legislation seeking to block a no-deal Brexit earlier this month – voted against the adjournment of parliament.
Former Cabinet minister Amber Rudd, who only left the government less than three weeks ago, also voted with the opposition.
The vote does not mean Conservative conference will not go ahead, but MPs will now face difficulties travelling back and forth from the conference venue in Manchester, back to Westminster should they be required to take part in votes.
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