Tobias Ellwood loses Conservative whip
Boris Johnson has stripped the Tory party whip from senior MP Tobias Ellwood after he didn't return from a foreign trip to vote in support of the government in the vote of confidence last night.
As a result, the long-time Johnson critic will no longer be able to vote alongside fellow MPs in the Conservative leadership election, where he is supporting Penny Mordaunt.
The former minister, who chairs the Commons Defence Committee, argued he was unable to travel back from a meeting with the president of Moldova because of "unprecedented disruption".
But a Tory source said: "Other Conservative MPs cancelled foreign trips, left poorly relatives and one MP's mother died on the morning of the vote and [they] still attended and voted."
MPs voted to say the Commons still supports the government. The victory means that Johnson is expected to continue in Downing Street until September.
Ellwood said was "very sorry to lose the whip" but will continue meetings related to the war in Ukraine.
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