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Sir Keir Starmer has suspended seven Labour MPs after they voted against the government in support of scrapping the two-child benefit cap.
The move will be seen as a show of strength by the new prime minister after he saw off the first rebellion of his premiership, by 363 votes to 103, a majority of 260.
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, ex-business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain and Zarah Sultana have been suspended from the parliamentary party.
The cap, introduced in 2015 by then-Conservative chancellor George Osborne, restricts child welfare payments to the first two children born to most families.
More than 40 Labour MPs recorded no vote, with some of those listed spotted in the chamber throughout the day but then not voting, while others had permission to miss the vote.
Ahead of the vote, Sir Keir said there is “no silver bullet” to end child poverty but acknowledged the “passion” of MPs who were considering opposing the continuation of the Tory measure.
The Independent has put together this map below, where readers can see how their MP voted on the amendment.
In a bid to head off a larger revolt on the issue, ministers had said on Monday that they would consider ditching the “cruel” policy.
But, just hours before the vote, work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said the government had to do “the sums” before it could commit to abolishing the limit.
Charities, unions and figures such as former home secretary Suella Braverman have urged the new PM to dump the cap, brought in nearly a decade ago as one of George Osborne’s austerity measures. It currently affects 1.6 million children.
Zara Sultana said she did not know she would be suspended from the party if she rebelled but that she would have done so anyway.
“It is really important to use every opportunity in parliament to make the case that the two-child cap has to be scrapped,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
She added: “This is something that many people even in the Labour Party believe is important to do, that is why I voted that day.
“If scrapping the cap is not an urgent priority for a Labour government, you have to question what is… every day it is in place, hundreds of thousands of children are enduring unnecessary poverty.”
