He stays, eventually! Boris Johnson’s political future was decided in Westminster late at night. On Monday, June 6, the British Prime Minister submitted willy-nilly to a confidence vote from his majority. This was after months of “partygate”, which saw him lose patience with his supporters. Out of 359 Conservative MPs that voted, 211 voted for the ex-mayor of London and 148 voted against him. This is a significant group of rebels who could paralyze government action.
This confidence vote came just before the close of the festive parenthesis for the platinum jubilee, which celebrated the 70-year reign of Elizabeth II. It was a result of the scandal of the holidays in Downing Street during confinements. A devastating report detailed the violations of rules made in the face Covid.
On Monday morning, the Chairman of the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, declared that the crucial threshold of 54 letters (or 15%) from MPs demanding Boris Johnson’s departure had been crossed.
Boris Johnson won’t be subject to a second motion of no confidence for one year. However, this vote could weaken his authority.
Boris Johnson, pleading his case before his troops, said that he was happy the vote was being held: “If I get your support tonight, then we have a chance stop talking about us and start talking exclusively about what our actions do for the people in this country,” he stated, according to a Conservative Party official.
Then he dangled tax cuts, recalling that he had won 2019 “the strongest electoral win for the Conservatives since 40 years”.
He had received support from more than 100 elected officials during the day, and his most loyal ministers spent the day supporting him on television.
Opinium released Monday’s poll and found that 59% of Britons want the Tories to remove their leader, but only 34% of majority votes.
Boris Johnson, who won the 2019 polls thanks to his promise to free the United Kingdom of the Brexit impasse, has enjoyed a long and enduring popularity. Despite all the scandals it has been through, it has continued to be popular today because of its leadership role in the Western response against the Russian invasion Ukraine. The lack of a clear successor in the Conservatives ranks, who have been in power in the United Kingdom for 12 years, was also a benefit to him, particularly since Rishi Sunak, the long-standing star of the party’s Finance Minister, has been abruptly deposed due to his wealth, and the tax arrangements made by his wife in times of rising living costs.
However, his decline in popularity, which was most apparent when ‘BoJo’ was booed by crowds at Queen’s Jubilee celebrationss, will keep the Conservatives from winning the 2024 legislative election.
Boris Johnson, despite his victory on Monday night, is not yet out of the woods. Theresa May survived a motion for no confidence at the end of 2018. She then resigned a few months later.
A second investigation into “partygate”, this time parliamentary, is also being planned. If the House of Commons concludes Boris Johnson misled them by claiming that he had not broken the rules, then he should resign.
