West Midlands politicians defied both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn to insist that the UK must stay part of the European Union's single market after Brexit .
The House of Lords voted to support the proposal.
And that means that the House of Commons will now have to vote on it too.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ordered his members of the House of Lords to abstain on the vote. Theresa May, the Conservative leader, told her members of the House of Lords to vote against it.
But many members of the House of Lords defied their leaders and backed the proposal, arguing that many British businesses and jobs depended on being able to continue exporting goods to the EU without restrctions.
Labour rebels who voted for the proposal included:
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Michael Cashman (officially called Lord Cashman), the former West Midlands MEP
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Bill Morris (Lord Morris of Handsworth), the former trade union leader, who is from Handsworth, Birmingham
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Estelle Morris (Lady Morris of Yardley), the former MP for Birmingham Yardley
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Jeff Rooker (Lord Rooker), the former MP for Birmingham Perry Barr
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Peter Snape (Lord Snape), the former MP for West Bromwich East
Conservative rebels who voted for the proposal include Patrick Cormack (Lord Cormack), the former MP for Staffordshire South.
They backed an amendment to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill requiring the Government to negotiate with the EU so that the UK stays in the European Economic Area (EEA).
The EEA includes the EU and a small number of countries outside the EU, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway. It operates the internal market, also known as the single market, which allows free movement of goods, capital, services and people between member states.
The amendment was moved by Labour peer Lord Alli, who said continued membership of the EEA was vital to ensure the future profitability of the UK's export business.
He said: "It is the EEA that deals with services, services like retail, tourism, transport, communications, financial services and aerospace where we have a £14 billion trade surplus in these services.
"The customs union only will benefit our European neighbours in their imports and without an EEA equivalent it will damage our profitable export business and therefore the jobs and livelihoods of many thousands of people.
"It's for that reason that we need to ensure that any continuation of the customs union must include a continuation in the EEA or its equivalent."
Speaking after the House of Lords approved the amendment, a Brexit Department spokesman said: "We are disappointed that the House of Lords has voted for this amendment.
"The referendum was a vote to take control of our borders, laws and money. Ongoing participation in the EEA would mean having to implement new EU legislation automatically and in its entirety without having a say on how it is formulated - and it would also mean continued free movement.
"We will now consider the implications of this decision."
Senior Labour politicians who rebelled against their leaders and voted for the amendment included former party leader Lord Kinnock, Lord Mandelson and ex-Cabinet minister Lord Hain.
The Tory rebels included former Cabinet minister Lord Patten of Barnes and former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine.
