Draft Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026
330Ayes
109Noes
Carried · majority 221 · Government won210 did not vote
649 Members · Aye 330 · No 109 · DNV 210 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
Parliament voted on 15 July 2026 to approve the Draft Trade Unions (Permissible Means of Voting) and Employment Rights (Unfair Dismissal) (Amendment) Order 2026. The motion passed by 330 votes to 109. The order was considered in committee and approved on a division. The order makes two changes. It allows statutory trade union ballots, which were previously required to be conducted solely by post, to be held electronically, in hybrid form, or in the workplace. It also corrects a minor drafting error in section 105 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 arising from changes made by the Employment Rights Act 2025. In practical terms, trade unions organising industrial action or other statutory votes will now have a wider range of methods available to them, which the Government argues will reduce cost and administrative burden and bring trade union democracy into line with practices already used by political parties and listed companies. Labour MPs, including those sitting under the Labour and Co-operative label, voted unanimously in favour. Conservative MPs voted unanimously against, joined by Reform UK and the Democratic Unionist Party. Plaid Cymru, the Greens, the Scottish National Party, and smaller groupings backed the order. The vote followed a similar pattern to related employment rights divisions held on 1 July 2026, and was taken alongside a companion vote approving a new code of practice on electronic and workplace balloting, which passed by the same margin.
Voting Aye meant
Support modernising trade union balloting by permitting electronic, hybrid, and workplace voting alongside postal ballots, making union democracy more accessible and less burdensome.
Voting No meant
Oppose or raise concerns about the move away from exclusively postal balloting, citing questions about whether safeguards for ballot integrity, secrecy, and protection from interference are sufficient under the new methods.
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 Aye
280
0
80
Conservative and Unionist Party
Whipped No
0
94
22
Liberal Democrats
—
1
0
70
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped Aye
33
0
10
Independent
—
2
2
9
Reform UK
Whipped No
0
6
1
Scottish National Party
—
2
0
5
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
Whipped No
0
4
1
Green Party of England and Wales
Whipped Aye
4
0
1
Plaid Cymru
Whipped Aye
4
0
0
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
1
0
1
Your Party
—
2
0
0
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
0
0
1
Restore Britain
—
0
1
0
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
0
0
1
Ulster Unionist Party
—
0
1
0
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
CGT rate increases (10%→18%, 20%→24%) and carried interest reform are necessary to repair £22bn fiscal gap while remaining internationally competitive; phased BADR increases protect entrepreneurs.Labour · Voted aye · Read full speech (3,153 words) →
CGT changes contradict Labour's pro-growth rhetoric, create perverse incentives to sell businesses before April 2025, risk retrospective anti-forestalling rules, and carried interest measure costs £4.5m to raise zero revenue.Conservative · Voted no · Read full speech (2,527 words) →
CGT increase is suboptimal; should instead introduce indexation allowance, three-rate structure, and higher allowance to raise £5.2bn (vs £2.5bn) while being fairer to ordinary savers and long-term investors.Liberal Democrat · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (1,332 words) →
CGT increases address tax avoidance gap between CGT and income tax rates; entrepreneurial investment depends on infrastructure/skills not exit taxation; Budget supports that vision.Labour · Voted aye · Read full speech (2,352 words) →
While supporting progressive taxation, CGT reform incomplete: should index gains for inflation, target smaller gains, reform reliefs, and close Monaco loophole to truly be fair; cannot support unamended clause.Labour · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (894 words) →
Energy profits levy increase (35%→38%) and abolition of 29% investment allowance necessary to fund energy transition while maintaining decarbonisation allowance; ESIM price floor provides certainty; consultation on post-2030 regime planned.Labour · Voted aye · Read full speech (3,593 words) →
Energy levy increases risk 26% lower capex, 6.3% lower oil and 9.2% lower gas production per OBR; removal of investment allowance jeopardises 200,000 jobs; new clause 3 review essential given Aberdeen warnings.Conservative · Voted no · Read full speech (1,463 words) →
CGT reform is incomplete technocratic fix; should have fundamentally redesigned CGT following IFS guidance on indexation, asset-specific rates, and wealth tax; clauses do nothing for Scotland's economy.SNP · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (2,243 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0