I was surprised by the accounts of strong-arm tactics by Government whips. I know too many of them well and they are not unpleasant and aggressive ladies and gentlemen.
I was myself a whip both in opposition and in Government and over the course of the decades I witnessed the waning of their influence.
My whip asks me how I plan to vote rather than telling me. It’s not unreasonable for me to let him know, so that he can at least get the responsible minister to address my reservations and see if he can persuade me with reasonable argument.
That one might believe a threat to turn off government largesse in one’s constituency strikes me as highly improbable. Government expenditure just doesn’t work like that. You’d have to be quite gullible to believe any such threat.
Slightly more plausible would be a threat to stymie your prospects of becoming a minister, or other parliamentary career opportunity, were you flout the whip. Nevertheless, even that threat has diminished over recent years. There was a time when the Party Leader would focus on Cabinet appointments and leave the junior ministerial ranks to the Chief Whip to decide, but those days have gone. Equally, the appointment of so many serial rebels to high office has made nonsense of the notion that promotion is dependent on obedience.
The appointment to sit on Commons Select Committees, or to be Chairman of any of them was, until recently, entirely in the gift of party whips, giving them significant patronage and leverage. That however, was reformed under the Cameron premiership and those positions are now elected, removing another potential weapon from the armoury of the whips.
There have been other factors at work too which have led to more independence of mind among MPs.
First, the ease of electronic communication has given MPs much more exposure to the opinions and influence of their constituents. It also provides a useful network for like-minded MPs to encourage one another under the radar in any potential rebellion.
Finally, the opening-up of candidate selection processes to more democratic procedures, such as open primaries, introduced number of MPs who considered that it was more their own personal ‘brand’ rather than their party brand that won the day and, in turn, they exhibited a greater measure of independence. Though they were few in number, their attitude was very infectious.
The notion that whipping can influence a leadership challenge is just complete nonsense and it is secrecy makes nonsense of it. Whatever you may tell your whip, or anyone else for that matter, only The Chairman of the 1922 Committee ever knows if you really sent in a letter, and only you yourself will know how you voted in any subsequent ballot.
It’s a bit like the constituent who stopped me the other day and told me he’d only vote for me at the next election if I voted for a particular candidate after a leadership challenge. No doubt he trusted me to tell him who I voted for in any such ballot, but how would I ever know that he’d fulfilled his part of the bargain at the next election?
With whipping, I think we almost got to the position where, if you want to win, then you’ve got to win the argument. Which in a democracy, is no bad thing.