Steerpike

For the prospective parliamentary candidates of Newport West, last night was the culmination of two months of frantic campaigning, as they fought to win a seat in parliament following the death of the Labour MP, Paul Flynn. Once the polls had closed and counting began, the candidates all headed to the Wales National Veledrome, as they waited to hear the final result. But one of their number was missing. Remarkably the Lib Dem candidate, Ryan Jones, decided that he had somewhere better to be on the night he could have been elected to represent the good people of Newport West. In his absence, the party president of the Welsh Lib Dems, William Powell, was forced to step in for the night's TV interviews.

Ever since Jeremy Corbyn first put himself forward to be Labour leader in 2015, the founder of Momentum, Jon Lansman, has been one of the most influential figures in Labour politics. Yet, as the far-left group has grown from a simple campaign to elect Corbyn, to a fearsome fundraising organisation at the heart of the Labour project, there has been a growing rift between the organisation's members and its founder. Now it may be that this relationship has finally reached its breaking point.

Jacob Rees-Mogg was on the Today programme this morning to discuss Theresa May's latest pitch to work with Jeremy Corbyn on a Brexit compromise. The ERG member was on familiar ground as he railed against this potential softer Brexit and the Remainer MPs who might make it possible, but sounded far less comfortable when, at the end of the interview, he was asked about his decision to retweet a clip made by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Asked by Mishal Husain whether this meant he supported other AfD positions, such as their anti-immigration and anti-Islam policies, Mogg sounded visibly annoyed, and went on the attack, saying: 'Well I think this is typical of the BBC's obsession, and dare I say it the Today programme obsession about this.

The results of the second set of indicative votes were announced this evening, and after showing once again that MPs had rejected every single alternative Brexit strategy, the Brexiteers in the Tory party were in a jubilant mood. None more so that ERG member Mark Francois, who spoke to Radio 4 shortly after the results were announced. In his interview Francois described the attempts by MPs to take control of the parliamentary timetable and force the government's hand as an attempted coup against the people, led by Philip Hammond, and ended his point by addressing the Chancellor directly, saying: 'And if you're listening Mr Hammond, my fraternal message to you is "up yours".' Tory party unity is going well then.

Tory MPs who have backed a softer Brexit or Remain have had an acrimonious relationship with their local Conservative associations as of late, with one MP already deciding to quit their local party following threats of deselection. Last night, it was the turn of the former attorney general and Remain supporter Dominic Grieve to face the ire of his local party. The Conservative members of Beaconsfield (Grieve's constituency) held a no-confidence vote in the MP, which he lost by 182 to 131 votes, beginning the process of deselection. As Grieve gave a speech ahead of the vote, he was continuously heckled by the audience, who booed at the mention of Oliver Letwin and Anna Soubry.

The Independent Group of pro-Remain MPs announced this morning that they would be officially forming a political party so they are ready to fight in potential upcoming European elections. The group also made the surprising decision, after only being formed for one month, to announce a new leader and adopt a new name: Change UK. Mr S isn't sure how much thought the group put into their new moniker though. As well as a slightly odd choice for a group whose only real policy is to Remain in the EU (rather than change anything), it also clashes with another political group which has been around for three years: Change Britain.

Last night, before the results of the indicative votes were announced, MPs voted on a Statutory Instrument which aimed to change the date of Brexit in domestic law. As you'd expect for a vote of such importance, a three-line-whip was placed on all Tory MPs to support the secondary legislation, and to prevent a 'clash' taking place between EU and UK law. Despite this, 93 Tory MPs voted against changing the date, and 67 defied the whip by abstaining, including 5 Cabinet ministers. Among these rebels was government minister for children and families, Nadhim Zahawi, who decided to abstain on this pivotal vote. This was a clear break with collective responsibility, but as of writing, there is no sign yet that Zahawi (or any of his other colleagues) will be resigning from the government.

For the first time in living memory, MPs seized control of the parliamentary timetable today, in order to hold a series of indicative votes to work out parliament's preferred Brexit outcome. As expected, the constitutional upheaval precipitated by Oliver Letwin has provoked a fair amount of controversy in the House of Commons, with MPs opposing the move pointing out that if the Letwinites were not happy with the way the government was handling Brexit, they ought to  trigger a no-confidence vote in the Prime Minister. But the debate turned into something resembling a public school squabble this afternoon when Tory MPs Jacob Rees-Mogg and Nick Boles squared off in the Chamber.

After the chaos in the voting lobbies two weeks ago, when ministers claimed to not know they’d rebelled against the government, the Conservative whips were taking no chances ahead of yesterday’s crunch vote. MPs were warned early on which motions they should support, and as soon as Oliver Letwin’s amendment was passed, a quick-fire email whipped round reminding Tories of their responsibilities. But even if the whips were on top of things this time, it appears that some MPs were still struggling to keep up. When it came to the vote on Letwin's amendment, it seems that backbencher Ed Vaizey intended to rebel against the government, but accidentally went through the wrong voting lobby and ended up supporting their motion anyway.

This evening MPs voted to take back control, as they backed an amendment tabled by Oliver Letwin to seize control of the parliamentary timetable on Wednesday in order to hold a series of indicative Brexit votes. And while some in the Chamber were clearly happy to see parliament flex its muscles against the government, others were far less impressed to find Letwin suddenly in charge of the Brexit negotiations. Shortly after the motion passed which put into place the indicative vote plan, Tory MP David TC Davies stood up say: 'I don't wish to pay tribute to the honourable member for West Dorset [Oliver Letwin], but since he now since to have installed himself as a kind of jobbing prime minister, could you tell me Mr Speaker how it is that we hold him to account in this house?

Ever since MPs first voted to trigger Article 50 everyone has been told that Britain, by law, will be leaving the EU on 29 March. And if that date was ever to change, then Parliament would have to vote for it to change. That's the British constitution which can be summed up in eight words: 'What the Queen-in-Parliament enacts is law.' As the Supreme Court debacle reminded us, only Parliament can change laws that Parliament makes.  So unless Parliament can approve a new Brexit plan, then we leave on Friday next week. Only this week it all got a bit complicated. After the Prime Minister sought an Article 50 extension in Brussels this week, EU leaders offered her two options: 1. For Article 50 to be extended until May 22 on the condition May passes her deal 2.