A senior Conservative MP has had the whip restored after being suspended from the party for missing a confidence vote in the summer.
Tobias Ellwood, chair of the Commons defence select committee, had the whip withdrawn after failing to vote for Boris Johnson’s government in a confidence vote in July.
He said at the time he was “very sorry” to have missed the vote, but that he had been unable to attend because of difficulties travelling back from a meeting with the Moldovan president.
Ellwood represents the constituency of Bournemouth East and served in a variety of ministerial roles in the governments of Theresa May and David Cameron.
He had been an open critic of Johnson’s conduct in office, particularly in relation to the Partygate scandal. On Saturday, Ellwood said in a tweet he was glad to be “off the naughty step” and back in the party “as we enter this reset”.
A spokesperson for the whips’ office confirmed Ellwood had had the whip restored.
His return to the parliamentary party comes at a tumultuous time for the government.
On Friday, the prime minister, Liz Truss, was forced to sack Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor, after his mini-budget sparked panic in UK markets, causing the pound to plummet and the cost of government borrowing to soar.
Kwarteng was replaced by former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, who ran against both Johnson and Truss in their respective leadership campaigns.
The move has been seen as an attempt to reassure the markets and shore up Truss’s premiership, but has so far not succeeded in quelling unrest on the Tory backbenches.
Ellwood’s tweet welcomed Hunt’s appointment, calling it a “wise inclusion” in the government. “We thrive when governing as ‘One Nation’ Tories harnessing a coalition of talent – solving economic crises via sound money & fiscal responsibility,” he said.
