Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill: Reasoned Amendment to Second Reading
68Ayes
242Noes
Defeated · majority 174 · Government won334 did not vote
644 Members · Aye 68 · No 242 · DNV 334 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
Parliament voted on 21 May 2026 to reject a Reasoned Amendment to the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill at Second Reading (Division 6). A Reasoned Amendment is a procedural motion that, if passed, would have blocked the bill from progressing further by formally stating objections to its principle. The amendment was defeated by 242 votes to 68. The bill itself was therefore allowed to proceed to the next parliamentary stage. The vote advances the government's plan to bring the steel industry into public ownership. The bill follows the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025, which Parliament passed after a recalled sitting to keep British Steel's blast furnaces operational. Full nationalisation, if the bill completes its passage, would make the state the owner of the steelworks rather than a temporary emergency manager. The government cited defence procurement, industrial strategy, and long-term supply security as reasons for state ownership; opponents raised concerns about competitiveness and the effect on manufacturers who buy steel. The division followed near-perfect party lines. All 211 Labour MPs and 22 Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted opposed the amendment, as did all five Reform UK members who voted and both Green MPs. All 69 Conservative MPs who voted supported the amendment. One independent voted with the Conservatives; one independent voted with the government. A substantial number of MPs across all parties had no vote recorded, including 149 Labour members and 47 Conservatives.
Voting Aye meant
Support blocking the Bill, opposing full public ownership of the steel industry and questioning whether nationalisation is the right response to the sector's challenges.
Voting No meant
Support the Bill proceeding, backing public ownership of British Steel as a means of securing long-term steel production capacity, jobs, and industrial strategy goals.
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped No
0
211
149
Conservative and Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
69
0
47
Liberal Democrats
—
0
0
71
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped No
0
22
20
Independent
—
1
1
11
Reform UK
Whipped No
0
5
3
Scottish National Party
—
0
0
7
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
—
0
0
5
Green Party of England and Wales
—
0
2
3
Plaid Cymru
—
0
0
4
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
0
0
2
Your Party
—
0
2
0
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
0
0
1
Restore Britain
—
0
0
1
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
0
0
1
Ulster Unionist Party
—
0
0
1
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
The Bill is necessary pragmatism, not ideology: public ownership of British Steel protects a strategic national asset essential to defence, infrastructure and industrial strategy, and the government has explored all commercial options first.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (2,916 words) →
Nationalisation is an ideological failure that masks the government's real failures on energy policy and industrial competitiveness; the Conservatives would lower industrial electricity prices instead, which is the only sustainable route to viable steelmaking.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (2,530 words) →
The Bill is justified in a world of weaponised interdependence and strategic competition, but success depends on five complementary policies: stable investment, lower energy costs, refined tariffs coordinated with the EU, robust state procurement, and industry consolidation.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,441 words) →
Nationalisation is a justified temporary emergency measure to prevent further collapse, but must be paired with plans to return British Steel to private ownership, stronger EU trade deals, and tighter parliamentary oversight of secondary legislation and compensation.Liberal Democrat · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (1,632 words) →
The tariff regime and quota cuts, implemented without industry consultation, will bankrupt specialist steel stockholders and aerospace-grade metal importers whose supply chains cannot shift to domestic producers, particularly as many specialist steels are unavailable in the UK.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (655 words) →
Government cannot run businesses efficiently; the tariff and quota measures, particularly the 97% reduction on merchant bars, will inflate costs across HS2 and defence procurement and harm peripheral manufacturing industries faster than domestic capacity can grow.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (852 words) →
The Bill is necessary recompense for the Conservatives' abandonment of Redcar in 2015 and affirms that steel is too strategically vital to be left to market forces or foreign ownership.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (604 words) →
Nationalisation is correct and long overdue; the government should commit to a bold long-term vision that renews blast furnace capacity alongside electric arc furnaces rather than quietly allowing blast furnaces to close.Reform UK · Voted no · Read full speech (555 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0