The promotion of Jake Berry to Tory Party Chairman has created a power vacuum in one of the Party’s most influential backbench caucuses. The Northern Research Group has been key in holding the government to account on levelling up, fighting for Northern freedom during lockdown and additional Treasury support during the pandemic. Berry isn’t the only prominent NRG figure Truss elevated to ministerial office; Dehenna Davison, the 2019 MP for Bishop Aukland, was appointed as a Levelling Up Minister last week.
Among strong competition, Carlisle MP John Stevenson has come out on top to replace Berry as NRG chairman, subject to an AGM due after conference. Stevenson says he’s “very proud to be the NRG Chairman, during this crucial period for the North.” Will the NRG continue being a thorn in the side of the government, or be supportive now their man Berry’s on the inside? Time will tell…
These are the three MPs on the Commons standards committee who blocked an investigation into John Bercow’s bullying. Tories Christopher Chope and John Stevenson and Labour’s Kate Green voted to prevent the standards commissioner Kathryn Stone from launching an inquiry into the Speaker, following a complaint by Andrew Bridgen. The Times reports that a majority of the six lay members on the committee backed an investigation, but only MPs get a vote. Bridget Phillipson and Gary Streeter backed a probe but were outvoted by the three blockers above.
This is a peak example of the problem with MPs on the standards committee marking their own homework. Bercow faces bullying allegations from multiple victims – Kate Emms, David Leakey, Angus Sinclair and Robert Rogers – the lay members say he should be investigated, and yet the politicians who have known the Speaker for years let him off the hook. Makes a mockery of parliament’s claims to be reforming how it deals with bullying…
