By Ben Kerrigan-
British Mps have voted to suspend the former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier(pictured) from parliament for 30 days for breaching Covid-19 regulations, potentially paving the way for a byelection.
Thirty-seven MPs opposed the sanction against the independent MP, while 185 supported it, in a vote that would normally pass without opposition.
Thirty-two Conservative MPs voted against Ferrier’s punishment, more than the number who supported it. Other dissenters were the former Tory Andrew Bridgen and MPs from Alba, the breakaway party from the SNP, and the Democratic Unionist party.
Supporters of Boris Johnson allegedly tried to block Ferrier’s suspension on the basis that they feared it could set a precedent if Johnson faced a similar vote, those opposing it on Tuesday included critics of the former prime minister as well as allies such as Jacob Rees-Mogg and Joy Morrissey.
The vote was the first major one on standards in the Commons since November 2021 when all but a few Tory MPs opposed the suspension of Owen Paterson after he was found guilty of paid lobbying by a standards watchdog.
Ferrier was accompanied in the Commons chamber by the Tory former minister Andrew Selous. At one point, Daniel Kawczynski, the Conservative MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, was seen walking to the opposition benches to shake her hand, and he was listed on the record afterwards as having been among those who opposed the suspension.