English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill: Government motion to disagree to Lords Amendment 41

**What happened**: The House of Commons voted on 21 April 2026 to disagree with Lords Amendment 41 to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, passing the motion by 284 votes to 149. The amendment had been inserted into the Bill by the House of Lords, and the Commons vote rejected it, sending the Bill back to the Lords without that provision. **Why it matters**: Lords Amendment 41 was one of several changes the upper chamber had made to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, a piece of legislation designed to extend devolved powers to English regions and reform arrangements for local government. By voting to disagree, the Commons removed this amendment from the Bill, advancing the Government's preferred version of the legislation. The vote is part of the parliamentary process known as "ping-pong," in which the two chambers exchange amendments until both agree on a final text, and the outcome affects how devolution and community empowerment powers will be structured in England. **The politics**: The vote divided along clear party lines. All 282 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted supported the Government's motion, while Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens, and Democratic Unionists all voted against. No party broke ranks in any significant way, with two independents on each side being the only departures from strict party groupings. This was one of six divisions on the same Bill held on the same day, with the Government winning each one by comfortable margins ranging from around 140 to 150 votes, reflecting the Government's working Commons majority and its determination to resist the Lords' modifications to its devolution programme.