PM faces revolt on Rwanda plans as senior Tories quit

Lee Anderson and Brendan ClarkeSmith resigned as deputy chairs of the Conservative party last night after defying Rishi Sunak and backing rightwing challenges to harden up his Rwanda deportation bill.

- Pippa Crerar , Rajeev Syal

The two senior “red wall” MPs led a rebellion of 60 Tories to vote for a series of rightwing amendments, inflicting a damaging blow to the prime minister's authority in the biggest revolt of his leadership.

After the vote, Anderson told GB News, on which he presents a show: "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".

It also heralds another Commons battle today when MPs vote on the key third reading of the Rwanda bill, with about a dozen Tories already having publicly declared they planned to vote against the legislation and just 29 rebels needed for it to fall.

However, there was little sign of panic over the scale of the rebellion last night, with government insiders suggesting the rightwing bloc did not yet have the numbers - or the inclination to inflict a potentially politically fatal blow on Sunak.

The first revolt came when 60 Tory MPs voted in favour of clause 10, the changes to the bill put forward by the veteran Tory MP Bill Cash to ensure UK and international law cannot be used to prevent or delay a person being removed to Rwanda.

The second involved 58 Tory rightwingers backing clause 19, an amendment by the former immigration minister Robert Jenrick aimed at severely limiting an individual asylum seeker's ability to appeal against being put on a flight to Rwanda.

The rebels included the former home secretary Suella Braverman, Jenrick and the former prime minister Liz Truss, along with dozens more prominent rightwingers.

Both amendments were defeated by opposition by the Labour party.