The one thing about party whips is they keep a low profile. They don’t speak in the chamber. They don’t publicly address the media. They traditionally don’t let on about their work.
But things are a little unusual in Parliament these days, and the government’s chief whip Julian Smith has decided to air his meetings trying to persuade his fellow Tory MPs to vote for Theresa May’s deal. On ITV News.
Facing Brexiteer and shrill International Men’s Day whiner Philip Davies, it doesn’t look like he’s having much luck.
It goes like this:
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“Are you feeling any better about the deal on Tuesday? Have we got your support?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
“In a word.”
Watch it get increasingly painful here:
ITV News was granted rare access to the Chief Whip’s office, as he tries to rally support for the PM’s Brexit deal ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
We caught the argument as vocal Brexiteer Philip Davies insisted he was voting ‘no’ https://t.co/KHDQTdnQtA pic.twitter.com/MJjE7vdaXb— ITV News (@itvnews) December 6, 2018
Perhaps this will succeed in evoking more public sympathy for Theresa May, but it’s unclear how televising your failure as a whip will win MPs round by Tuesday. Perhaps they’ll feel sorry for him too?