Whips are key players in Westminster. They act as a two-way channel of communication between the party leadership and backbench MPs, feeding information from the leadership to MPs and vice versa. If the leadership wants MPs to vote a certain way, it’s the job of the whips to make sure that MPs do just that. But, equally, if MPs have concerns about a policy position, it is the job of the whips to feed that back to the party leadership.
Recent allegations from within the Conservative party suggest this relationship is damaged.
Shortly after defecting to the Labour party, backbench MP Christian Wakeford alleged that the Conservative whips had threatened to withdraw funding for a school in his constituency if he did not support the government on a specific vote. Backbench MP William Wragg also issued a statement warning that it is not the job of whips to suggest funding is at stake if an MP rebels.
