Two deputy chairs of the Conservative party, Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith, have resigned after defying Rishi Sunak by backing right-wing amendments to harden his Rwanda deportation bill. The pair led a rebellion of 60 Tory MPs, inflicting a damaging blow to the prime minister's authority in the biggest revolt of his leadership.
Anderson told GB News: “I don’t think I could carry on in my role when I fundamentally disagree with the bill. I can’t be in a position to vote for something I don’t believe in.” The rebels included former home secretary Suella Braverman, former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, and former prime minister Liz Truss. However, both amendments were defeated with Labour opposition.
The resignations come ahead of Wednesday’s crucial third reading vote, where about a dozen Tories have publicly said they will vote against the legislation. Just 29 rebels are needed for the bill to fall, but government insiders suggested the right-wing bloc does not yet have the numbers to inflict a fatal blow.
In a joint resignation letter, Anderson and Clarke-Smith said they wanted the Rwanda legislation to be “watertight” and that current form would leave it snarled up in the courts. They commended Sunak’s work on illegal migration but insisted on consistency in their stance.
Meanwhile, Lady Chief Justice Sue Carr criticised government plans to recruit and train 150 judges for asylum appeals, stating that judicial deployment should be “exclusively a matter for the judiciary”. Justice Secretary Alex Chalk had announced expanded court capacity to fast-track appeals in an attempt to win over sceptical MPs.
Government sources indicated that civil servants may be ordered to ignore European Court of Human Rights rule 39 orders that could halt deportation flights. Such an intervention stopped a flight in June 2022.
