How Herefordshire’s MPs voted on Rwanda bill

North Herefordshire MP Sir Bill Wiggin was among Conservatives who helped get the Government’s Rwanda Bill over the line last night.

But Hereford and South Herefordshire MP Jesse Norman did not vote in the division, seen as a key test of the government’s immigration policy.

The Conservative Home website lists Mr Norman as among 38 Tory MPs who abstained – though it points out that while many did so “out of opposition to the Bill, some will have missed the vote for other reasons”.

Mr Norman was asked why he did not vote.

The bill is intended to deter illegal migrants from crossing the English channel or arriving in the UK by other means.

But the government’s proposed solution of deporting them to the African country while their asylum applications are considered has so far been thwarted by the courts.

The issue has become a test of the electoral credibility of Rishi Sunak, who made “stopping the boats” one of his main pledges when he became prime minister in Octrober last year.