David Cameron has the “clear majority” he wanted. MPs voted for air strikes against Isis in Syria by 397 to 223. Sixty six on the Labour side supported military action (with 152 opposed and 11 abstaining), a higher figure than expected after a remarkable speech in favour by Hilary Benn, which drew unprecedented applause from all sides of the House.
But with the support of almost all Conservative MPs (just seven of whom voted against), the DUP and most Liberal Democrats, Cameron’s majority was large enough for him not to depend on Labour. Significantly, that means the Commons would have backed intervention even if Jeremy Corbyn had whipped his party against air strikes (as he had originally hoped to do). The Labour leader’s team are pointing the fact that a majority of his MPs and a majority of shadow cabinet members (17:11) voted against military action as evidence that he has “demonstrated his leadership and increased his authority”. The 11 who supported air strikes were Benn, deputy leader Tom Watson, shadow business secretary and shadow first secretary of state Angela Eagle, shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle, shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander, shadow education secretary Lucy Powell, shadow culture secretary Michael Dugher, shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant, shadow mental health minister Luciana Berger, shadow minister for young people Gloria De Piero and shadow Northern Ireland secretary Vernon Coaker.
It is Benn’s speech that will likely be remembered as the defining moment of the debate. As MPs gathered round the shadow foreign secretary to get their order papers signed, the Labour leader awkwardly blanked him. Benn, who even frontbench opponents of air strikes say has been hugely “enhanced” by recent events, will more than ever be spoken of as a potential future leader. Though one MP in regular contact with the shadow foreign secretary told me: “I don’t think Hilary’s interested in being the leader – even in the interim.”
RAF airstrikes in Syria are now expected to begin as early as tomorrow morning.
The seven Tory MPs who voted against air strikes
John Baron
David Davis
Gordon Henderson
Philip Hollobone
Julian Lewis
Stephen McPartland
Andrew Tyrie
The 66 Labour MPs who voted for air strikes
Heidi Alexander
Ian Austin
Adrian Bailey
Kevin Barron
Margaret Beckett
Hilary Benn
Luciana Berger
Tom Blenkinsop
Ben Bradshaw
Chris Bryant
Alan Campbell
Jenny Chapman
Vernon Coaker
Ann Coffey
Yvette Cooper
Neil Coyle
Mary Creagh
Stella Creasy
Simon Danczuk
Wayne David
Gloria De Piero
Stephen Doughty
Jim Dowd
Michael Dugher
Angela Eagle
Maria Eagle
Louise Ellman
Frank Field
Jim Fitzpatrick
Colleen Fletcher
Caroline Flint
Harriet Harman
Margaret Hodge
George Howarth
Tristram Hunt
Dan Jarvis
Alan Johnson
Graham Jones
Helen Jones
Kevan Jones
Susan Elan Jones
Liz Kendall
Dr Peter Kyle
Chris Leslie
Holly Lynch
Siobhain McDonagh
Pat McFadden
Conor McGinn
Alison McGovern
Bridget Phillipson
Lucy Powell
Jamie Reed
Emma Reynolds
Geoffrey Robinson
Joan Ryan
Ruth Smeeth
Angela Smith
John Spellar
Gisela Stuart
Gareth Thomas
Anna Turley
Chuka Umunna
Keith Vaz
Tom Watson
Phil Wilson
John Woodcock
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