UK PM Rishi Sunak faces first rebellion of his premiership; here’s what’s happening

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is staring at the first rebellion of his premiership, and it has to do with one of the most divisive issues in British politics – housing. At least 50 Conservative or Tory members of the Parliament have opposed the government’s housebuilding reforms that would lay the groundwork for affordable homes. 

Conservative governments have promised to build 3 lakh more homes by mid-2020s, but some Conservative lawmakers want more local authority. Now, a vote that was scheduled for Monday on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill that stipulates centrally-set targets to build 3 lakh houses a year, has been called off, given the opposition of Conservative lawmakers who want to change sections of it. 

The legislation aimed at boosting housing and infrastructure, but Sunak’s party mates have proposed changes to it, and want to end mandatory housebuilding targets for local authorities. 

There has been no new date set for the vote, but the government is expected to talk to the lawmakers trying to find a compromise over the bill. 

The rebel Tory MPs are led by former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers. They signed an amendment that seeks to scrap the mandatory rule and make it advisory only.

Villiers said that the bill sets “top-down excessive targets” and could encourage environmental damages and damages to quality of life. Her supporters say that they do not want to stop housebuilding but want communities to have more say on where they are built. 

Now, Sunak, who has a majority of 69, could face defeat if the Labour party and others decide to back the Tory rebels, which led him to call off the vote. On the face of it, the government blamed a “congested parliamentary timetable” for the deferment of the vote. 

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