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Earlier this week, Tory Brexiteers claimed Theresa May and government whips would use their power of patronage to influence next month's big Commons vote on the EU withdrawal deal.

And just days later, late on Friday afternoon, Downing Street started handing out baubles: a knighthood for a veteran eurosceptic ex-minister and appointments to the Privy Council for two senior parliamentary business managers.

The knighthood goes to John Hayes, a right-winger who prospered when Iain Duncan Smith was Tory leader, held ministerial posts under David Cameron and has - so far - questioned the prime minister's Brexit deal.

A colourful character who is popular and influential on the Tory right, he is MP for the Lincolnshire Fens constituency of South Holland and the Deepings, which voted 71% for Leave in the 2016 referendum.

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But, significantly, he has not written a no-confidence letter to the 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, and, crucially, has not yet declared how he will vote on the Brexit deal when it comes to the Commons.

Labour denounced his knighthood. Shadow cabinet office minister Chris Matheson said: "It would be a spectacular act of desperation for Theresa May to be giving away knighthoods in a bid to win votes for her botched Brexit deal."

Pro-Remain Labour MP Jo Stevens MP said: "This stinks of cronyism. It seems that in order to pass it's unpopular Brexit deal, the government is willing to hand out knighthoods left, right and centre.

"Instead of sneaking out rewards for loyalty on a Friday, the government ought to come clean with the public and tell them that Brexit will leave us poorer and more isolated on the world stage.

"Then the public can decide whether they want to continue with this shambles, or stay and lead in Europe."

Sir John's knighthood will also come as little surprise to leading figures in the European Research Group, whose leader Jacob Rees-Mogg admitted this week his bid to oust Mrs May had run into difficulty.

The Sunday Times reported this week: "MPs also have contempt for the tactics of the whips and their 'narks'. Sir Edward Leigh, who is presumed to want a seat on the Privy Council, and John Hayes, who some MPs believe will soon be granted a knighthood, have attracted particular ire.

"'The whips are offering bribes of knighthoods and peerages to get people to go around telling people to back the prime minister or we will get Corbyn,' said one MP."

Joining the Privy Council are the government's deputy chief whip, Christopher Pincher, and Labour's pairing whip, Mark Tami, both of who will be major players in the numbers battle ahead of the big vote.

Mr Pincher, MP for Tamworth, became deputy chief whip earlier this year. Previously, he was often told off by Speaker John Bercow for heckling Jeremy Corbyn during prime minister's questions.

Last year, he resigned as an assistant whip and voluntarily referred himself to the Conservative Party's complaints procedure and police after a former Olympic rower and Conservative candidate, Alex Story, alleged that nine years before Mr Pincher became an MP, he had made an unwanted pass at him, describing him as a "pound shop Harvey Weinstein".

Mr Pincher said in response: "I do not recognise either the events or the interpretation placed on them. If Mr Story has ever felt offended by anything I said then I can only apologise to him."

An investigating panel later determined that Mr Pincher had not breached the party's code of conduct and he re-joined the whip's office.

Mr Tami, a former trade union official who is MP for Alyn and Deeside, has a hugely important role as pairing whip - organising approved absences for MPs in crucial votes - now the government has lost its Commons majority because the DUP is effectively on strike.

Membership of the Privy Council is one of the most coveted perks for MPs. All cabinet ministers and many senior backbenchers are privy councillors and are called right honourable members instead of honourable members.

Officially, the Privy Council advises the Queen and Royal Family members and meets in secret from time to time. In practice, being a privy councillor is just a parliamentary reward for seniority.

Privy councillors get called early in Commons debates and get a better office in the Palace of Westminster, although being called early will be no use to Mr Pincher and Mr Tami, since whips rarely speak in the Commons.