The Government’s chief whip was caught holding his head in his hands at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, in an apparent show of despair as Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn clashed over the delayed Commons vote on her Brexit deal.
Julian Smith was filmed slumped forward in his seat holding his head as Labour leader Mr Corbyn questioned the Prime Minister about the vote on her proposals for leaving the European Union.
Mr Corbyn had said: “The reality is that she is stalling for time. There is still no majority for her shoddy deal in this House. It isn’t stoical, it is cynical.”
He continued: “Can the Prime Minister give us a cast iron guarantee the vote in this House will not be delayed yet again?”
As Mrs May got up to speak, a fed up-looking Mr Smith, sat just one metre away, held his head in his hands.
She replied: "We have been very clear about the process that we are going through and we have been very clear about when the vote will be brought back to this House."
Mrs May pulled the vote on her Withdrawal Agreement, which was initially scheduled for Tuesday last week, amid a likely humiliating defeat.
The proposals are set to finally go to a vote in the week commencing January 14.
Reports last week suggested Mr Smith was facing the blame for the government's crisis as Mrs May's deal faced collapse.
Mr Corbyn, meanwhile, was later accused of calling Theresa May a “stupid woman” in the same Commons session – sparking a furious backlash from MPs.
The Labour leader came under fire from Tory, Labour and SNP MPs after he appeared to mouth “stupid woman” during later exchanges with Mrs May.
But this was denied by Labour, which said Mr Corbyn used the words "stupid people."
