Former and current whips reject idea their job is about intimidation as they tell likely next PM consensus is key
When Hilary Armstrong was dealing with the biggest challenge in her five and a half years as Labour’s chief whip, Tony Blair was on the brink of invading Iraq.
How did she handle Labour MPs who could not bring themselves to support such a decision? “We made sure that people were able to express their conscience but that we would get enough support for the government to get our legislation through,” she said. “We tried to make sure that amendments accommodated what people were concerned about.”
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