U.K. Lawmakers Get Proxy Votes for Parents After Brexit Dispute

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. House of Commons will pilot a proxy voting plan for new parents after a series of complaints about the way expectant and new mothers have been treated in tight Brexit votes.

The issue came to a head last week when Labour’s Tulip Siddiq delayed a cesarian section and went into Parliament in a wheelchair to vote against Theresa May’s Brexit plan.

Under the plan, parents of new babies or newly-adopted children will be able to nominate another member to vote on their behalf, House of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom said on Tuesday.

Party business managers can offer “pairing” agreements, where someone on the opposite side agrees not to vote so as to offset the missing vote from the new mother. But last year the Tories won a tight Brexit vote after party chairman Brandon Lewis broke the pair that had been agreed with Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson, who was at home with her new baby.

From her home, where she was watching the statement with her baby son, Siddiq welcomed the news.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Hutton in London at rhutton1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Thomas Penny, Alex Morales

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