“Liz Truss put literally nobody in her government who hadn’t supported her leadership campaign,” said the former chief whip quoted above. “So the Conservative parliamentary party turned into a government of people who had backed her, and everybody else. If you do that it leaves a camp of people who will set out their alternative stalls, and the leadership contest will continue.”
The former No. 10 aide advised the next Labour leader: “Don’t humiliate people. Always treat them with respect. Even if you beat them.” Timpson, noting that the personal mandate of a new leader will be “written in sand,” said a Starmer replacement must “listen closest to those MPs who attacked them most vociferously; it is their hostility that is the most important to neutralize.”
Remember to count
Tories advise being sure to appoint a good chief whip — one who brings MPs into the tent to get them onside, rather than wielding threats. The person must be close to the prime minister and able to warn them when MPs will never accept a proposal.
“A good chief whip will soothe damaged egos, iron out tensions and, critically, infiltrate the factions to always be in the know about what’s going on,” said Timpson, who now works at comms consultancy Sanctuary Counsel.
But a new leader can’t delegate their backbench management wholesale to the whips’ office, nor fall back on posting the odd message in WhatsApp group chats to keep their troops on side. It was after a crushing defeat over welfare that Starmer realized it might be a good idea to build better relations with his own MPs. Since then, he’s tried harder to make them feel listened to.
The chief whip must, however, be prepared to crack down on genuine bad behaviour, Tories argue. That’s easier when the leader follows the rules, as Boris Johnson found out.