Outspoken Claire Perry, Tory MP for Devizes, has revealed that she will be “gagged” from making government policy statements — especially critical ones — as a result of her promotion as an assistant in the party’s parliamentary Whips Office.
“Whips, as ministers of government, are unable to comment in public on government business, although I can be vocal as ever on local matters,” she says.
“And, of course, I can use my position to lobby on national matters behind the scenes.”
Mrs Perry, the 49-year-old local MP since 2010, who has been seeking promotion for some time, has had to step down from her post as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, an important post as there are five Army barracks in her constituency.
She will also have to take a back seat role in her campaign to clamp down on internet pornography and the sexualisation of children.
“Luckily that important area is in safe hands with the Culture Secretary and the Prime Minister firmly on board,” she says in a local paper article.
“The implementation of new filters, clean public wi-fi and zero tolerance to child abuse imagery on the internet is happening as I write.”
As to her appointment – she received a phone call from No 10 while driving to London on Monday – she writes: “It will be a fantastic chance to see the business of government in action and already I have ‘whipped’ my first Statutory Instrument Committee, guided colleagues into the appropriate lobby, negotiated with rebellious colleagues on various motions and sat on the front bench for several hours to keep an eye on the proceedings in the Commons.
“It is a great opportunity and will mean that I can still work parliamentary hours, which means that I can keep a full slate of constituency business.”
