Just Stop Hoyle! Mr Speaker ‘was uninvited from banquet after ticking off the Prime Minister’ as part of a deliberate campaign within the government to bring him to heel, allies claim

• The event was originally due to be held earlier this year but was postponed
• Number 10 sources denied any attempt to punish the Speaker last night

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle was ‘uninvited’ from the banquet to mark King Charles’s visit to France because he had upset Rishi Sunak, it was claimed last night.

Allies of the Speaker suspect his rebukes of the Prime Minister for failing to respect the Commons lay behind the decision not to give him a seat at the glittering event at the Palace of Versailles.

And they are privately describing it as part of a ‘Just Stop Hoyle’ campaign within the Government to bring him to heel.

Number 10 sources denied any attempt to punish the Speaker last night.

The sumptuous banquet held in Versailles’s famous Hall of Mirrors was one of the highlights of the State Visit by the King and Queen Camilla to France last month, which encompassed Paris and Bordeaux.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle was ‘uninvited’ from the banquet to mark King Charles’s visit to France because he had upset Rishi Sunak, it was claimed last night

So lavish was the dinner that French President Emmanuel Macron is now facing calls by French MPs to reveal its cost

The three-day event was originally due to be held earlier this year but was postponed after unrest in France over pension reforms.

So lavish was the dinner that French President Emmanuel Macron is now facing calls by French MPs to reveal its cost.

A total of 160 guests, including British stars Sir Mick Jagger and Hugh Grant, were invited.

So was French National Assembly president Yael Braun-Pivet – the equivalent of the House of Commons Speaker.

However, Sir Lindsay, in his role since 2019, was not invited. That was despite the fact that The Mail on Sunday understands that the Speaker was on the original Versailles guest list for the postponed State Visit.

One Labour MP suggested last night that it was ‘pay back’ time for Sir Lindsay for having repeatedly ticked Mr Sunak off for not making important announcements to the Commons first.

In July, Sir Lindsay pointedly said ‘how pleased I am to see him in the House’ before adding, ‘I hope we will see more statements made in the House first’.

One Labour MP suggested last night that it was ‘pay back’ time for Sir Lindsay for having repeatedly ticked Mr Sunak off for not making important announcements to the Commons first

However, just 11 days ago, the Speaker vented his fury after the PM unveiled major changes to the Government’s Net Zero plans shortly after the Commons had broken up for the Party conferences recess.

But last night, Downing Street sources insisted that they had nothing to do with the Versailles invitations.

However, a French government source said: ‘The Versailles guest list was guided by the British, through the UK Embassy in Paris. This meant that the British government had a significant say in who attended, even though the evening was hosted by the President of the [French] Republic.’

And asked if Sir Lindsay was on the original guest list, one British diplomatic source said: ‘Quite possibly – lots of names were bandied around at the time.’

The Speaker was unavailable for comment yesterday.

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