Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill: Amendment 2

Parliament voted on 27 January 2026 on Amendment 2 to the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill, which would have required the affirmative procedure for ministerial regulations changing who is eligible for prioritisation in medical training. Under the affirmative procedure, Parliament must actively approve such changes; under the negative procedure, which the Bill as drafted uses, changes take effect unless Parliament objects. The amendment was defeated by 311 votes to 61. The vote matters because it determines how much parliamentary oversight applies to future changes in the rules governing who gets prioritised for postgraduate medical training places. The Bill creates a new statutory framework for allocating Foundation Programme and specialty training places, favouring UK medical graduates and a defined priority group. The defeated amendment would have required a parliamentary vote before the Secretary of State could redraw those eligibility boundaries. Without it, the government retains the power to adjust prioritisation rules by regulation without a full vote, allowing faster changes but with less formal scrutiny. The Liberal Democrats voted unanimously in favour of the amendment, joined by Plaid Cymru's four MPs, the Greens' three MPs, two independents and one Traditional Unionist Voice MP. Labour and Labour Co-operative MPs voted against en bloc, as did the Democratic Unionist Party and the Ulster Unionist Party. No Conservative MPs appear in the Aye lobby, and the party had no vote recorded in this division. The result followed a similar pattern to Amendment 1 on the same Bill, also defeated on the same day, suggesting a consistent government majority against tightening procedural scrutiny of the Bill's regulation-making powers.