Two years ago, a mutinous Conservative MP lamented the iron rod being used by the Prime Minister’s Office to control caucus members.
The basic rights of individual MPs were under assault, he said, and backbenchers were on the verge of revolt.
The same MP told me Tuesday the mood in the governing caucus “is as good as it has ever been.”
So what changed? A bounce-back in the polls, a less heavy hand by the Whip and the departure of Eve Adams have all contributed to this outbreak of congeniality. But that doesn’t explain the dissipation of almost existential angst that gripped the Tory backbench.
A ruling by Speaker Andrew Scheer in April 2013 went some way toward reassuring MPs that their independence was not in danger of being subsumed by party discipline.
more
John Ivison: Hold the revolt — Tory backbenchers no longer feeling suppressed by PMO | National Post
sorry brent
The basic rights of individual MPs were under assault, he said, and backbenchers were on the verge of revolt.
The same MP told me Tuesday the mood in the governing caucus “is as good as it has ever been.”
So what changed? A bounce-back in the polls, a less heavy hand by the Whip and the departure of Eve Adams have all contributed to this outbreak of congeniality. But that doesn’t explain the dissipation of almost existential angst that gripped the Tory backbench.
A ruling by Speaker Andrew Scheer in April 2013 went some way toward reassuring MPs that their independence was not in danger of being subsumed by party discipline.
more
John Ivison: Hold the revolt — Tory backbenchers no longer feeling suppressed by PMO | National Post
sorry brent