The Tory Cabinet attendees who have defied the whip this year
Even Prime Minister Boris Johnson is among a list of MPs who have defied the whip this year.
Regardless, Conservative MPs who vote against the government this week have been warned they will be banned from standing for the party at the next election.
A senior source from the Tory whips office said that any MP who defies the the party “will have the whip withdrawn and will not stand as (a) Conservative candidate in an election”.
Former chancellor Philip Hammond called the move “staggeringly hypocritical”, and there are at least nine Cabinet attending MPs who have voted against the whip this year.
The former rebels are:
Boris Johnson – The Prime Minister voted against Theresa May at the first two readings of the Withdrawal Agreement. He voted in favour of it at the third reading.
Dominic Raab – The Foreign Secretary voted against the Withdrawal Agreement on its first and second readings.
Priti Patel – The Home Secretary voted against the Withdrawal Agreement at all three opportunities.
Grant Shapps – The Transport Secretary voted against Mrs May’s Brexit deal on the first two occasions.
Theresa Villiers – The Environment Secretary voted to reject Mrs May’s Brexit deal on all three readings.
Esther McVey – The Housing Minister resigned as Mrs May’s work and pensions secretary in November 2018. Since then, she has voted against the Withdrawal Agreement on two occasions.
Amber Rudd – The Work and Pensions Secretary abstained on a Government motion ruling out a no-deal Brexit in all circumstances on March 13. There was a three-line Conservative whip to oppose the motion.
Jacob Rees-Mogg – The former chairman of the hard-Brexit supporting European Research Group (ERG) is now Leader of the House of Commons, and opposed Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement twice.
Jo Johnson – The Prime Minister’s brother now attends Cabinet as a business minister, he endorses the People’s Vote campaign, and voted against the Withdrawal Agreement three times.
And new Tory Party chairman James Cleverly is also being labelled a hypocrite for a tweet he wrote in June where he said "there is no deselection mechanism in the Conservative Party".
The Brexit-supporting MP, who briefly entered the race to become Tory leader, described David Gauke as a "great MP and a huge asset to our party" in the tweet.
He wrote: "THERE IS NO DESELECTION MECHANISM IN THE @CONSERVATIVES PARTY
"We have had these Leave EU stories amplified by the press for months and no Conservative MP has been deselected.
"@DavidGauke is a great MP and a huge asset to our party."