Tory defector Christian Wakeford has claimed that funding for a school in his constituency would be cut if he voted against the Government.
The MP for Bury South, who dramatically crossed the Commons floor to join Labour on Wednesday, said whips threatened to withdraw funds if “he did not vote in a particular way”.
It came hours after senior Conservative MP William Wragg made the explosive claim that Tory critics of the prime minister faced “intimidation” and blackmail as part of an effort to keep him in office. Boris Johnson insisted he had seen no evidence to support the allegations.
Mr Wragg said the conduct of the Government Whips’ Office threatening to withdraw public funding from MPs’ constituencies may have breached the ministerial code.
Quizzed on the claims, Mr Wakeford told the BBC: "I was threatened that I would not get the school for Radcliffe if I did not vote in one particular way.
"This is a town that’s not had a high school for the best part of 10 years.
"How would you feel when holding back regeneration of a town for a vote? It didn’t sit comfortably and that was really starting to question my place where I was and ultimately to where I am now."
Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said it could be a contempt of Parliament to obstruct MPs in their work, adding that MPs and their staff are “not above the criminal law”.
“While the whipping system is long-established, it is of course a contempt to obstruct members in the discharge of their duty or to attempt to intimidate a member in their parliamentary conduct by threats,” he said.
