Keir Starmer has suffered a serious blow after dozens of his own MPs voted against his planned welfare reforms in Parliament.
The prime minister had been forced into two humiliating U-turns on the legislation in less than a week to head off a revolt that threatened to defeat his government on one of its flagship policies.
But how does this compare to previous revolts by politicians?
It is the largest rebellion of Sir Keir’s premiership
According to political scientist Professor Philip Cowley, from Queen Mary University of London, who has done a comparison of previous votes, it was the largest backbench rebellion Starmer has suffered so far.
The previous record holder was earlier this month during the passage of the planning and infrastructure bill, when 16 MPs rebelled.
A smaller revolt last year, over the controversial two-child benefit cap, saw a number of Labour MPs stripped of the party whip – including Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
It rivals a rebellion in Tony Blair’s first year – but is ‘more significant’
The number of MPs voting against, 49, is similar to the 47 who were responsible for the largest rebellion in Tony Blair’s first year in power, over a benefit for lone parents.
But Prof Cowley said this one was more significant.
He told The Independent: “Seen purely in terms of size, the first major rebellion of Keir Starmer’s premiership is on a par with the first major rebellion of Tony Blair’s. But this is one of those occasions in life when size doesn’t matter. This rebellion was much more significant and effective.”
But it is dwarfed by the revolt over Iraq
It is also smaller than the largest rebellion during Blair’s first parliament, when 67 MPs rebelled over incapacity benefit.
The largest rebellion by Labour MPs at a second reading of their own governments’ bill was 72 MPs. This record is shared by two votes – in 1947 on national service and, again under Blair, in 2004, on university tuition fees.
91 MPs revolted during a 1975 vote over the civil list, the system which defines how the royal family are funded, the biggest rebellion in the first year of any government since the war.
The same number, 91, hold the record for the largest rebellion by government MPs at the second reading of any bill since 1945, Prof Cowley found. That was over House of Lords reform in 2012.
But they are all dwarfed by the largest backbench rebellion of any governing party since the Corn Laws, when 139 MPs voted against the Iraq war in 2003.
