- Voting will take place on Monday
- ‘Partygate’ aggravates the mood of the Conservative Party
- Coordinated cabinet support campaign
LONDON June 6 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a no-confidence vote on Monday after a growing number of Conservative Party lawmakers question the British leader’s authority after a partygate scandal .
Johnson, who won a landslide election victory in 2019, has come under increasing pressure after he and staff held alcohol-powered parties in the heart of power when Britain was under strict blockades to deal with COVID-19.
He met with the heart of mockery and boos, and some shouts of acclaim, at the events to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee in recent days.
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On Monday, the previously seemingly unassailable Johnson was also attacked by former ally Jesse Norman, a former junior minister who said the incumbent prime minister insulted both the electorate and the party. Read more
“You have presided over a culture of accidental breach of the law at 10 Downing Street in relation to COVID,” he said, adding that the government had “a large majority, but no long-term plan.”
Norman is one of a growing number of Conservative lawmakers who say publicly that Johnson, 57, has lost his authority to rule Britain, which faces the risk of recession, rising prices and the chaos of travel. caused by the strike in the capital London.
Jeremy Hunt, a former health minister who ran against Johnson for leadership in 2019, said the party knew he was defrauding the country. “Today’s decision is to change or lose,” he said. “I will vote for change.” Read more
Johnson’s anti-corruption champion John Penrose resigned. “I think it’s over. Now it seems like a question of when not,” he told Sky News when asked about Johnson’s future.
DRAWING A LINE?
Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 party committee representing grassroots Conservative lawmakers, said a vote would be held on Monday between 6pm and 8pm (5pm-7pm GMT). Read more
“Votes will be counted immediately afterwards. An announcement will be made at the time of warning,” he said.
A spokesman for Johnson’s Downing Street office said the vote “would allow the government to draw a line and move forward, meeting the people’s priorities.”
“The Prime Minister is grateful for the opportunity to present his case to parliamentarians and will remind them that when they are united and focus on issues that matter to voters, there is no more formidable political force.”
Johnson, the former mayor of London, rose to power in Westminster as the face of the Brexit campaign in the 2016 referendum, and took a tough stance once in power, separating the UK from the single market and the union customs.
Brexit Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg told Sky News that completing the UK’s exit from the European Union would be “significantly at risk without its push and energy”.
Johnson has recently contacted the EU about Northern Ireland, raising the prospect of more barriers to British trade and alarming political leaders in Ireland, Europe and the United States about the risks to the peace deal. of the province of 1998.
UNCERTAIN RESULT
Most Conservative lawmakers – or 180 – would have to vote against Johnson to be eliminated, a level some conservatives say could be difficult to achieve. If approved, there would be a leadership contest to decide his replacement, which could take several weeks.
Lawmakers said they had received letters from the prime minister, asking for their support in the vote.
Several ministers in his cabinet team issued messages of support to the prime minister quickly, and Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, like other possible successors, said Johnson had shown “strong leadership”.
“I support it today and will continue to support it as we focus on growing the economy, addressing the cost of living and eliminating COVID delays,” he said on Twitter in what appeared to be a choreographed expression of support.
The Ladbrokes bookmaker put former Health Minister Hunt as his favorite to replace Johnson if he was fired, followed by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who also tweeted his “100% support” to the former minister in Monday’s vote. Read more
Since the publication of a condemnatory report on the so-called “partygate” scandal, which listed alcohol-induced fights and vomiting at break-up parties in Downing Street, Johnson and his government had urged lawmakers to follow suit. come in.
But after parliament took a break last week by sending many lawmakers to their constituencies or voting regions, several found themselves with a chorus of complaints about Johnson.
The scathing criticism of Norman, who served as junior minister in the finance ministry between 2019 and 2021, was perhaps the biggest sign that criticism of Johnson had spread beyond a vocal group of so-called rebels. .
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Report by Elizabeth Piper; Additional report by William James, Alistair Smout, William Schomberg and Farouq Suleiman; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Kate Holton and Alex Richardson
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