David Cameron has been left humiliated after MPs defeated his attempt to give a Tory government after May more power over parliament.
The Prime MInister was accused of effectively admitting his party would fail to win a majority in the General Election following the launch of the power grab.
The row centred on an eleventh-hour "plot"against the position of the Speaker John Bercow, long a thorn in the Conservatives' side.
But the move was defeated by Labour, with the aid of dozens of government MPs.
Mr Cameron himself was left personally wounded after speeding back to the Commons from a visit to Coventry for the vote, only to lose it.
Earlier in extraordinary scenes Labour MPs had applauded a Tory backbencher who accused his own party of using him as a dupe.
Charles Walker, who chairs the Commons Procedure Committee, which oversees the role of the Speaker, told MPs he had been "played as a fool".
He accused the Tory Commons leader William Hague of making no mention of the plot when they spoke at a drinks party earlier this week.
Announcing that he would not back his own party's plans, Mr Walker said he had been "played as a fool".
"(But) when I go home tonight I will look in the mirror and see an honourable fool looking back at me", he said.
"And I would much rather be an honourable fool in this and any other matter than a clever man."
Labour accused the Tories of political chicanery, with shadow Commons leader Angela Eagle attacking Mr Hague for what she said were "appalling" actions.
BUt the Tories insisted they just wanted to makes procedures within the Commons "uniform".
Had it passed, the motion would have likely meant Mr Bercow would have faced a secret ballot of MPs to retake his place, widely considered a Conservative move to unseat him.
The motion, put forward by Mr Hague as his last action before standing down from the Commons at the election, was defeated by 26 votes, 228 to 202.
Among the No votes were 23 Tories and 10 Liberal Democrat MPs.
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