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The SNP are to push for a Commons confidence vote in the Speaker next week as the number of MPs to pull their support surpassed 70.
Allies of Sir Lindsay Hoyle insisted he was continuing “business as usual”, amid calls for him to use this weekend to reflect on his future after the parliamentary chaos over the Gaza ceasefire vote.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn told him on Thursday that his party – the third largest in Parliament – no longer had confidence in him and wanted the Government to make parliamentary time for a vote on the Speaker.
The Government has not yet made a decision on a vote.
However if the Speaker were to survive such a vote, and not resign, the SNP is not expected to continue to push for him to quit, i understands. Instead it will focus on campaigning on policy issues in the run-up to the general election.
The number of MPs to express no confidence had risen to 71 as of 6pm on Friday, only four more than the same time on Thursday, suggesting momentum in the bid to oust him was running out of steam.
As the majority of Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem MPs are expected to back the Speaker in any confidence vote in the Commons, this means the most likely way Sir Lindsay would leave his post is if he chooses to resign.
On Thursday, Rishi Sunak stopped short of offering his full confidence in the Speaker and urged him to “reflect” on Wednesday’s events, which the Prime Minister described as “concerning”.
An ally of Sir Lindsay insisted he was continuing “business as usual” and that his actions on Wednesday – when he had broken with convention to allow a Labour amendment to the SNP ceasefire motion – came from a “good place”, which had been to ensure MPs’ safety amid a “frightening” amount of intimidation.
His intentions were “genuine” and the scenes on Wednesday were the result of “unintended consequences”, but his “raison d’etre” was to protect the safety of MPs, the ally said.
The SNP is also expected to be given a fresh debate on the Israel-Hamas conflict, after their Opposition Day motion was thrown into chaos.
Representatives of the SNP and the Speaker, and Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt held talks on Friday to discuss a rerun of the ceasefire debate.
However SNP insiders want their next opportunity to “move on” from the first debate, possibly with demands for the UK Government to toughen its approach to Israel’s government.
Sir Lindsay has won the personal backing of several Cabinet ministers, including Home Secretary James Cleverly.
He told Sky News: “I think the Speaker has done a fantastic job. I think he’s been a breath of fresh air compared with his predecessor. He made a mistake. He’s apologised for the mistake. My view is that I’m supportive of him.”
On a visit to north Wales on Friday, the PM repeated his view that the Speaker’s actions over the Gaza debate had been “concerning”, adding: “The usual ways in which Parliament works, the usual processes which govern how Parliament works, were changed.
“Now, the Speaker subsequently apologised for that and said that he made the wrong decision.”
Brendan Cox, widower of murdered Labour MP Jo Cox, agreed with the Prime Minister.
He told Times Radio: “I think it’s totally understandable that he would have anxiety around, threats to members of Parliament, you know, certainly, [Murdered Conservative MP] David Amess and Jo, of course.
“These aren’t hypothetical threats. They are real. But it’s also clearly the case that we can’t change our processes and we can’t change, democratic conventions because of threats and intimidation.
“I think the Speaker had to balance real concerns around, anger on the streets, the sense that MPs were feeling threatened, intimidated, with the fact that we mustn’t bend our norms and our conventions to a mob or to intimidation.
“And I think in the aftermath of this, I hope that we’ll be clearer that no matter what happens on the streets, we have to make sure that our democracy stands up to those threats and that we can safeguard our democracy in other ways.”
