Public Office (Accountability) Bill Report Stage: Amendment 199

Parliament defeated Amendment 199 to the Public Office (Accountability) Bill on 14 July 2026, by 409 votes to 102. The bill is designed to strengthen accountability for those in public office, and the vote took place at Report Stage, the point at which MPs can propose changes to a bill before it moves to the House of Lords. The precise content of Amendment 199 is not available from the debate record provided. The grouping notice from Deputy Speaker Ms Nusrat Ghani indicates the amendment was debated alongside a government new clause and other new clauses dealing with post-legislative assessment of a legal duty of candour, the role of a standing public advocate following major incidents, and mechanisms for independent panels to collate evidence. Whether Amendment 199 itself addressed any of these themes cannot be confirmed from the available material. What is clear is that the government opposed the amendment and the No side prevailed by a large margin. The vote divided sharply along party lines. All 293 Labour MPs and all 37 Labour and Co-operative MPs present voted No, as did all 53 Liberal Democrats, all six Scottish National Party members, all five Greens, and all four Plaid Cymru members. The Ayes came almost entirely from Conservative MPs, 91 of whom supported the amendment, joined by five Reform UK members, four Democratic Unionist Party members, and two independents. No Labour, Liberal Democrat, or SNP member voted Aye, making this a government majority comfortably defeating an opposition-led proposal.