Rishi Sunak staves off revolt to win trust vote on migration plan; more challenges ahead

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak staved off a potential rebellion from members of his Conservative Party, winning a parliamentary vote on legislation designed to green-light his signature plan to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda.

The House of Commons voted 313 to 269 to approve the general principles of Sunak's bill Tuesday, less than a week after he introduced it. But he still faces a major challenge to get his anti-immigration legislation into law, after Tory Members of Parliament on the right of the party made clear they will try to change it in future votes expected in January. The upper chamber, the House of Lords, is also expected to have objections.

Still, clearing the first hurdle will come as a relief for Sunak, who at times in recent days looked in real danger of becoming the first leader to lose at this stage of a bill in the Commons in almost four decades. Despite having a working majority of 56, the outcome hung in the balance due to deep Tory divisions.


He was ultimately aided by his right-wing critics opting merely to abstain, including former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and ex-Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick. The House of Commons record showed no Tories actually voting against the bill.

"That was a solid vote," former Cabinet minister Therese Coffey told Sky News, referring to the majority of 44 MPs. "This issue has become rather totemic, but it's great news. There's a lot of details to be discussed in the next stages, but Rishi Sunak as prime minister should be very happy tonight."