What the Tory planning row means for Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak is facing his first Tory Commons rebellion since entering 10 Downing Street. After 47 Tory MPs threatened to back an amendment on planning reform which would oppose compulsory housebuilding targets, the government has pulled the vote until further notice. The rebels were led by former cabinet minister Theresa Villiers and largely consist of MPs with ‘blue wall’ seats who worry that constituent concerns over new developments could cost them their seats.

Inevitably, a war of words has broken out over the so-called ‘nimbys’ – with the co-author of the 2019 manifesto Rob Colvile labelling the amendment ‘Destroy the Planning System and Make the Recession Worse’. One of the would-be rebels has hit back this morning. Writing for Times Red Box, Bob Seely, MP for the Isle of Wight, argues that being a nimby doesn’t have to be a bad thing: ‘My definition of nimby is someone who is a local patriot.’