Boris Johnson withdrew the Conservative whip from defense committee chairman Tobias Ellwood, who failed to prop up the government in a confidence vote.
Ellwood, the Bournemouth East MP who has been an outspoken critic of Johnson’s behavior during his time as prime minister, told whips he intended to continue his overseas travel during the vote.
Ellwood will no longer be eligible to vote in Tory leadership elections as he will no longer be considered a Conservative MP. He backed Penny Mordaunt, who came second to Rishi Sunak, in the final round of voting on Monday night.
A spokesman for the whips’ office said: “Tobias Ellwood MP has lost the Conservative whip after failing to vote in favor of the government in last night’s confidence vote.”
In a statement, Ellwood said he was unable to return due to travel issues. He said: “Following my meeting with the President of Moldova yesterday, I have been unable to secure return travel due to unprecedented turmoil both here and in the UK.”
A source in the whips’ office said confidence votes should be taken extremely seriously by all MPs and said a failure to vote in favor was considered a failure to back the Conservative party’s agenda, regardless of whether Johnson was leader.
Ellwood was warned that he could lose the whip if he did not attend the vote, even though he had been “slipped” – which is permission given by the whips not to attend. Ellwood’s slip was canceled, but the source said he ignored offers to attend.
The source said Ellwood was reminded that the confidence vote would take place and was informed of the consequences if he did not attend.
The source said he was threatened with losing the whip and asked to return repeatedly.
Other Conservative MPs canceled trips abroad, left poor relatives behind and one MP’s mother died on the morning of the vote and still attended and voted, the source said.
However, it remains unclear why 11 other Conservative MPs skipped the vote without any apparent consequences. No vote was recorded for MPs including John Barron, Nusrat Ghani, Tom Hunt and Johnny Mercer, the newly appointed Minister for Veterans Affairs.
It is understood some of the missing Tory MPs, such as Ellwood, were also on overseas trips but were given permission to be ‘paired’ with opposition MPs.
However, a government whip source said they were on government trips while those who were not out and missed the vote were ill. Ellwood did not seek a leave of absence for his trip, they added.
In the debate ahead of the vote, Johnson defended his three years in power in a combative speech that hinted at a “deep state” plot to drag the UK back into the EU when he leaves office.
The government won by 349 votes to 238, a majority of 111. In a highly unusual move, No 10 announced the vote of confidence in itself after rejecting a Labor motion which had singled out Johnson.
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Labor initially said it would try to hold a confidence vote after Johnson announced he was staying on as prime minister until the autumn and a new Conservative leader was in place.
However, the government refused to accept the wording of Labour’s motion, which expressed no confidence in the government and the prime minister, so ministers tabled their own motion.
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