BORIS JOHNSON FACES LEADERSHIP VOTE AFTER ‘PARTYGATE’ SCANDAL

Mon 06 June 2022:

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face a Conservative Party confidence vote on his leadership on Monday, after 54 of his Tory MPs called for a vote after a series of scandals.

“The threshold of 15% of the parliamentary party seeking a vote of confidence in the leader of the Conservative Party has been exceeded,” Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbench MPs, said.

“In accordance with the rules, a ballot will be held between 1800 and 2000 (1700 and 1900 GMT) today,” he added.

In response, a Downing Street spokesman said that the vote is a chance for Johnson to ”draw a line and move on”.

“The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs 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,” the spokesperson added.

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, Johnson has been under growing pressure.

Joining a growing number who have voiced concern about Johnson’s electoral appeal, Jesse Norman, who served as a junior minister in the finance ministry between 2019 and 2021, was the latest Conservative lawmaker to publicly request a confidence vote.

“Recent events have served to clarify the position this country is in under your leadership, beyond any doubt; and I am afraid I can see no circumstances in which I could serve in a government led by you,” Norman said in a letter he published on Twitter.

I have supported Boris Johnson for 15 years, for the London Mayoralty and for PM. Very sadly, I have written to him to say I can no longer do so, for the reasons set out below. pic.twitter.com/0Mjs4hjeSF

— Jesse Norman (@Jesse_Norman) June 6, 2022

A majority of Conservative legislators, or 180, would have to vote against Johnson to remove him from the position of the prime minister.

Although some Conservatives believe that such a majority would be impossible to achieve, if it were to pass, there would be a leadership election to choose his successor.

Nonetheless, Johnson’s public standing is a source of concern for many Tory MPs, wary of the British public’s perception of the Conservative Party and its leader.

On Friday, TV footage showed crowds of people booing Johnson as he arrived at St Paul’s Cathedral in London for a thanksgiving service in honor of Queen Elizabeth II and her 70 years on the throne, a milestone marked over the past four days with Platinum Jubilee celebrations across the U.K.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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