UK’s PM Boris Johnson addresses his party’s lawmakers before confidence vote
- Johnson faces a Conservative Party confidence vote on Monday evening UK time, following a series of scandals
- A majority of Conservative Members of Parliament would have to vote against the Prime Minister for him to be removed
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been addressing Conservative MPs in Westminster before they take part in a confidence vote later on Monday, after a growing number of lawmakers in the governing party questioned the British leader’s flagging authority over the “partygate” scandal.
Johnson, appointed prime minister in 2019, is under growing pressure, unable to move on from a report that documented alcohol-fuelled parties at the heart of power when Britain was under strict lockdowns to tackle Covid-19.
In a searing attack on the once seemingly unassailable Johnson, Jesse Norman, a loyalist who served as a junior minister in the finance ministry between 2019 and 2021, said the prime minister staying in power insulted both the electorate and the party.
He is just one of several Conservative lawmakers who have voiced concern over whether Johnson, 57, has lost his authority to govern Britain, which is facing the risk of recession, rising prices and strike-inflicted travel chaos in the capital London.
“The threshold of 15 per cent of the parliamentary party seeking a vote of confidence in the leader of the Conservative Party has been exceeded,” Graham Brady, chairman of the party’s 1922 Committee that represents rank-and-file Conservative lawmakers, wrote in a note.
Brady said a vote would be held between 6pm and 8pm (1am and 3am Hong Kong time) on Monday, with the result due to be announced at 9pm (4am in Hong Kong).
UK’s Boris Johnson launches new ‘partygate’ defence
A spokesperson for Johnson’s Downing Street office said the vote was “a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on, delivering on the people’s priorities”.
“The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs (members of parliament) and will remind them that when they’re united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force.”
A majority of Conservative lawmakers – or 180 – would have to vote against Johnson for him to be removed, a level some Conservatives say might be difficult to reach. If passed, there would then be a leadership contest to decide his replacement.
UK’s Boris Johnson launches new ‘partygate’ defence
Conservative MPs milled around Westminster on Monday discussing the likely outcome of tonight’s vote, with some speculating that if Johnson wins by a narrow margin he might call an early general election, echoing a theory that was doing the rounds last week.
In that scenario, the party would likely suffer heavier losses if MPs refused to fall into line so that might help him to re-establish discipline. Others have suggested that Johnson could seek to stamp his authority on the party with a reshuffle of key ministers if he wins.
Senior ministers offered messages of support for Johnson, including some who would be likely to run in the Conservative leadership contest that would be triggered if he is ousted.
“The Prime Minister has my 100 per cent backing in today’s vote and I strongly encourage colleagues to support him,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, one of the favourites to succeed Johnson, wrote in a tweet.
Since the release of the damning report into the so-called “partygate” scandal, which listed fights and alcohol-induced vomiting at lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street, Johnson and his government have urged lawmakers to move on.
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Boris Johnson apologises for attending ‘work’ party during Covid-19 lockdown
But many returned to their constituencies – voting regions – last week to find a chorus of complaints over Johnson’s behaviour. The prime minister was also jeered and booed by the public at Platinum Jubilee celebrations over the weekend, although there were also some cheers for him.
Former Brexit Secretary David Davis, a leading figure in an attempt to oust Boris Johnson in February, said the four days to celebrate the queen’s 70 years on the throne were key to triggering Monday’s vote.
Tory MPs would have heard the criticism of Johnson and “partygate” during the long weekend in their districts, Davis told Times Radio. He also predicted the prime minister will “hang on” even if he wins by a single vote. “That’s the nature of the man,” he said.
Steve Barclay, appointed the chief of staff at Downing Street after reports of the lockdown parties, urged lawmakers not to “waste the remaining half of the parliament on distractions over leadership”.
“If we continually divert our direction as a Conservative Party – and by extension the government and the country – into a protracted leadership debate, we will be sending out the opposite message,” he wrote on the Conservative Home website.
But in perhaps the biggest sign that criticism of Johnson has spread beyond a vocal group of so-called rebels, MP Jesse Norman listed his complaints of the British leader’s behaviour and also of what he described as a lack of “mission”.
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“People are crying out for good government … neither the Conservative Party nor this country can afford to squander the next two years adrift and distracted by endless debate about you and your leadership,” he wrote in a letter published on Twitter.
“For you to prolong this charade by remaining in office not only insults the electorate, and the tens of thousands of people who support, volunteer, represent and campaign for our party; it makes a decisive change of government at the next election much more likely. That is potentially catastrophic for this country.”
Additional reporting by Associated Press
