MPs voted to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales on June 20 after the third reading of the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill. The bill has been heavily contentious, both in terms of ethics and the technical aspects of the parliamentary process, with many feeling the legislation was rushed.
This was the final vote in the House of Commons on the bill, which now moves to the House of Lords before becoming legislation.
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The bill passed with 314 votes to 291 – a majority of 23. This was a smaller margin of victory than the previous occasion MPs voted on the legislation in October 2024, when a majority of 55 supported its passage. The question, therefore, is: “who switched?”
Excluding the speaker, the SNP MPs, who typically do not vote on issues specific to England and Wales, Sinn Fein MPs, who cannot vote because they do not take their seats, and the new Reform MP for Runcorn and Helsby, Sarah Pochin, who replaced former Labour MP Mike Amesbury between the second and third reading of this bill, we are left with 632 MPs to study.
| Characteristic | Overall (N = 632) | Yes (N = 313) | No (N = 292) | Abstain (N = 27) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 260 (100%) | 136 (52%) | 110 (42%) | 14 (5.4%) |
| Ethnic MP | 90 (100%) | 26 (29%) | 59 (66%) | 5 (5.6%) |
| LGBT | 70 (100%) | 50 (71%) | 19 (27%) | 1 (1.4%) |
| Elected As | ||||
| Labour | 410 (100%) | 229 (56%) | 165 (40%) | 16 (3.9%) |
| Conservative | 121 (100%) | 20 (17%) | 94 (78%) | 7 (5.8%) |
| Liberal Democrat | 72 (100%) | 55 (76%) | 14 (19%) | 3 (4.2%) |
| Independent | 6 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 6 (100%) | 0 (0%) |
| Democratic Unionist Party | 5 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (100%) | 0 (0%) |
| Reform UK | 5 (100%) | 1 (20%) | 4 (80%) | 0 (0%) |
| Green Party | 4 (100%) | 4 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Plaid Cymru | 4 (100%) | 3 (75%) | 1 (25%) | 0 (0%) |
| Social Democratic & Labour Party | 2 (100%) | 1 (50%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (50%) |
| Alliance | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) |
| Traditional Unionist Voice | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) |
| Ulster Unionist Party | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) |
| MP Religious | ||||
| Not Religious | 228 (100%) | 173 (76%) | 48 (21%) | 7 (3.1%) |
| Religious | 404 (100%) | 140 (35%) | 244 (60%) | 20 (5.0%) |
| MP Religion | ||||
| None | 228 (100%) | 173 (76%) | 48 (21%) | 7 (3.1%) |
| Christian | 313 (100%) | 117 (37%) | 181 (58%) | 15 (4.8%) |
| Catholic | 34 (100%) | 7 (21%) | 27 (79%) | 0 (0%) |
| Muslim | 25 (100%) | 2 (8.0%) | 22 (88%) | 1 (4.0%) |
| Jewish | 13 (100%) | 7 (54%) | 4 (31%) | 2 (15%) |
| Sikh | 12 (100%) | 6 (50%) | 4 (33%) | 2 (17%) |
| Hindu | 6 (100%) | 1 (17%) | 5 (83%) | 0 (0%) |
| Buddhist | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (100%) | 0 (0%) |
In total, 56 MPs changed position between the second and third reading. The no vote was stickier than the yes vote. Of those who voted no for the second reading, 97% did so in the third reading, and just one MP went from the no to the yes camp (Jack Abbott, the Labour MP for Ipswich).
On the other hand, 14 MPs went from yes to no, and a further 15 went from yes to abstaining. Of the MPs who abstained for the second reading, ten later voted yes and ten voted no. This was not, however, enough for the bill to be blocked.
How religion affected the vote
It was already clear that support and opposition to the bill was linked to not only political party but religious outlook. And there is some evidence that religion played a role in motivating switchers.
Apart from Labour, which broke 56% to 40% in favour of assisted dying, most other parties leant heavily in one direction or the other. This mirrors the divide along religion, where non-religious MPs were more likely to back the bill (76% to 21%) compared to religious MPs, who were half as likely to support it (35% to 60%).
Religious Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs were more likely to support assisted suicide than religious MPs as a whole, whereas non-religious Conservatives were less likely to support it than non-religious MPs a whole.
If we compare religious MPs to non-religious MPs, the former were more likely to switch to no (45% of religious MPs who switched did so to no, compared to 38% of non-religious MPs) than yes (18% against 25%). In both groups, 38% abstained in the third round.
This pattern continues across parties too – all the Conservative MPs who changed position were religious (although more than 90% of the Conservative Party are religious, so we shouldn’t read too much into this).
Among Labour MPs, who obviously make up the bulk of any parliamentary vote, there was a striking similarity in switching between religious and non-religious MPs. Of the switchers, 29% of Labour’s religious and non-religious MPs switched to yes, whilst 38% of religious and 36% of non-religious MPs switched to no.
The effects of religion also play out within parties. Of the 11 MPs who switched to yes, seven were Labour Christian MPs, and the other four were non-religious Labour MPs.
Two MPs elected under Reform’s banner – Lee Anderson and the now-independent Rupert Lowe – switched from yes to no, the former being non-religious and the latter a Christian. No Liberal Democrat MP switched to a yes vote, but the four who switched to no were religious – the one non-religious switcher abstained.
Overall, it is clear that while religion is still important in structuring how MPs voted on assisted suicide, the role of party cannot be ignored – even in a free vote like on assisted dying.
David Jeffery does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
