Employment Rights Bill: Motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 62

Parliament voted on 15 September 2025 to reject a Lords amendment that would have kept the existing 50% turnout threshold for trade union strike ballots. The motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 62 passed by 330 votes to 161. The effect of the Commons winning this division is that the government's original plan proceeds: the 50% turnout requirement is removed, so a strike ballot result will be determined by a simple majority of those who vote rather than requiring half of all eligible members to participate. The change matters because the 50% threshold, introduced by the Trade Union Act 2016, has been one of the more contested restrictions on industrial action in recent decades. Removing it means that unions will no longer need to achieve a minimum participation level before a lawful strike can proceed; a majority vote among however many members return a ballot is sufficient. Government supporters argue this aligns strike ballots with other democratic votes, including general elections and votes in Parliament. Opponents argue the threshold exists to ensure that industrial action reflects the will of the wider membership, not just an engaged minority. Andrew Griffith, speaking for the Conservative side, warned that a strike could legally proceed with the support of just over a quarter of eligible members. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 309 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted supported the government, joined by the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru, the Greens, and three independents. All 83 Conservative MPs who voted, all 65 Liberal Democrats, all 6 Reform UK members who voted, two Democratic Unionist Party members, and one independent voted against. There were no Conservative or Liberal Democrat votes on the government side and no Labour votes against. This division was one of several on the same day in which the Commons rejected Lords amendments to the Employment Rights Bill; related divisions in December 2025 on other parts of the same bill showed similar government majorities in the low-to-mid 300s.