Fate is a eurosceptic: James Wharton wins ballot

By Alex Stevenson



Eurosceptic Conservative James Wharton has come top of the private members' bill ballot - a result which will have David Cameron sighing with relief.



The 29-year-old is one of the youngest MPs in the Commons and voted for the eurosceptic amendment in last night's Queen's Speech division.



Wharton could well be the Conservative who many Tories hope will choose the party-endorsed EU referendum bill published by Downing Street earlier this week - but he has previously warned against the Europe issue dominating politics in his Stockton South seat.



He told the Northern Echo newspaper before yesterday's vote the amendment, which regrets the absence of an EU referendum bill from the Queen's Speech, would "send a clear signal that the Conservative party wants to give people a say on our relationship with the European Union".



The ballot result was the best chance for David Cameron to move the story on following last night's eurosceptic amendment vote in which 116 Conservative MPs regretted the lack of such a bill in the Queen's Speech.



This morning all eyes were on committee room ten in the Palace of Westminster, where the order of precedence for private members' bills in the 2013/4 session was chosen at random.



The result was: 7) Andrew Gwynne MP, 6) Sir Alan Meale, 5) Dan Byles MP, 4) Sheryll Murray MP, 3) Jonathan Lord, 2) Paul Blomfield MP and 1) James Wharton.



Any MP is permitted to enter the ballot for private member's bills, which are heard on Friday sittings of the House when most backbenchers have already retreated to their constituencies.



The first seven MPs stand a reasonable chance of at least having their case heard because they are guaranteed substantial debate on Fridays.



But it is very hard to get a private member's bill on the statute book, as it requires a quorum of at least 100 MPs present in the chamber and faces the risk of being 'talked out' in filibuster style by any opponents.



John Baron, the eurosceptic behind yesterday's troublesome amendment, dismissed the private member's bill alternative as a result.



"If the amendment had been passed, the prime minister would have had the mandate to go to the Liberals to get government legislation introduced," he said.



"This is the best way of passing a bill because it would require a majority to defeat it. By contrast, other means of introducing legislation can get blocked by a determined minority."



The last time government MPs voted against their Queen's Speech in numbers was 2004, but only three Labour left-wingers did so then, according to expert Philip Cowley of the University of Nottingham. The last substantial rebellion was in 1946.