Tory rebels have left Rishi Sunak in a stronger position after he saw off their revolt without making any concessions.
The Prime Minister has been treading a fine line between the feuding wings of his party to introduce laws that will let deportation flights to Rwanda take off.
Rebel ringleaders were pushing for colleagues to vote down the Bill until the last few hours before the vote.
At 5pm, they held a final meeting to rally the troops with “barnstorming” speeches aimed at winning over any waverers.
But, although MPs wanted it to be as tough it possibly can be, most ultimately realised that a strong-enough Bill was better than none at all.
Some key figures on the right are furious at the toxic impact the revolt had on Tory unity.
On a WhatsApp group, one MP attacked the rebel group leaders for their “suicidal” manoeuvres and accused them of destroying the party.
The unedifying civil war has seemed all the more pointless given it has been about a Bill that Tory MPs all agree on.
Strategic mistakes were made on both sides. Key figures leading the rebellion left themselves boxed in so they had no option but to vote against the Bill.
The rebel force has been left severely weakened and will struggle to muster the troops in any future attempts to go against the Government.
No10 let tales of Tory in-fighting dominate the agenda when it actually had some good news to cheer about after small boats crossing fell by a third.
Tory MPs must now decide if they want to spend the rest of this Parliament fighting each other or the Labour Party.
And Mr Sunak must show he was right to stick with his plan by getting a plane to Rwanda in the air come what may.
