Leader of the House of Commons has apologised after an MP was unable to vote on the Brexit deal on Tuesday because his wife was in labour.
Douglas Ross issued a statement to his constituents on Tuesday evening explaining he had to leave Westminster without voting, and was unable to use the new system of proxy voting because he hadn’t given 24 hours notice.
Speaking to HuffPost UK, Andrea Leadsom, who was instrumental in securing the proxy voting scheme, said: “I’m really sorry about Douglas, I wish he’d got the proxy organised sooner. It’s essentially required that notice is given the night before the day in which proxy is to be used.”
The minister said if she was in charge of the voting arrangement, she might have been willing to bend the rules for the first-time father.
“I might have been a bit lenient if I’d been allowed to, but it’s not up to me, it’s something that is run by the speaker’s office and they have very clear procedures,” she said.
Leadsom said she doesn’t want other colleagues to be put off using the proxy voting system and encouraged anyone who is pregnant, or has a pregnant partner, to prepare as far in advance as possible to avoid ending up in the same situation as Ross.
Ross was forced to miss the historic vote on Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal – which MPs rejected for the second time on Tuesday.
Leadsom added that she has asked the procedural committee to look again possibly extending the parental leave proxy system to cover those caring for loved ones with terminal illness.
The proxy voting system was introduced in January 2019, a historic change for MPs who had previously relied on a much-criticised “pairing” system.
The pairing system meant that if one MP was unable to vote, another from the opposing side would agree to abstain in order to cancel out the numbers.
But the new rules, which are still in a 12-month pilot phase, allow MPs to nominate a colleague to vote on their behalf. This means they do not have to physically attend parliament themselves.
The issue was put in the spotlight when Labour MP Tulip Siddiq had to postpone a Caesarean section and was taken to Westminster in a wheelchair in order to vote on the PM’s deal in January.
Leadsom said at the time: “I profoundly believe that all new parents should be able to spend uninterrupted time with their new baby,” she said. “This is vital for both the physical and mental well-being of parents and babies.”