Bus Services (No.2) Bill Report Stage: Amendment 23

What happened: The House of Commons voted on Amendment 23 to the Bus Services (No.2) Bill at report stage (the stage at which MPs debate and vote on changes to a bill before it proceeds to the House of Lords). The amendment was defeated by 297 votes to 158. The result means the government's version of the bill continues without this modification.

Why it matters: The Bus Services (No.2) Bill sets out how bus services across England will be regulated, with a central focus on expanding local authority powers to franchise and control routes. Amendment 23 proposed a change to those provisions, supported by opposition parties who argued the bill needed strengthening or redirecting in some way. Its defeat means the government's original approach to bus service reform remains intact, affecting how millions of passengers across England will experience local bus networks in the coming years.

The politics: The vote divided almost entirely along government-versus-opposition lines. Labour MPs overwhelmingly voted no, with 265 Labour and 27 Labour and Co-operative members supporting the government. Conservatives supplied the bulk of the aye votes with 88 in favour, joined by all 60 Liberal Democrats who voted, 3 Green MPs, 4 Reform UK members, and 1 Democratic Unionist Party MP. Only one Labour MP crossed the floor to vote aye. This pattern mirrors other divisions on the same bill that day, in which similar coalitions formed and were defeated by comparable margins, suggesting a coordinated opposition effort to reshape the bill that the government saw off at each turn.