At least one Conservative MP from the 2019 incorporation is in advanced discussions about the possible desertion of Labor, with another elected then also in close talks with a Labor MP.
Neither has met with Keir Starmer or had formal contact with the leaders’ office, but it is understood they are communicating with Labor MPs. A high-ranking party source said they doubted the intentions of one of the MPs, but the other was more serious.
Both MPs are from the 2019 intake, one with a marginal seat. One sounded like a Labor friend before the local election and another more recently.
Some other Conservative MPs with marginal seats have expressed frustration to Labor MPs and have suggested they will only keep their seats deserted. A Labor official said there was some skepticism in the party about the motives of these MPs.
Another senior official said lawmakers had been told to manage potential defectors themselves as a trusted adviser, rather than involving the whip in chief, the party headquarters or the leader’s office. The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that up to six MPs were considering deserting.
On Sunday, Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison denied she was considering deserting, as did Caroline Nokes, MP for Romsey and Southampton North. Both voted against Boris Johnson in the recent censorship vote.
Work is stepping up its selection process for key marginal seats over the next few weeks and party sources warned that potential defectors did not have much time to decide. “If we have selected someone in the seat, we would like to present our candidate,” one said.
“We’re selecting good people, the people of Keir, and that’s who we would prioritize. All in all, we think we’re going to win those seats anyway. The Wakefield result shows we’re on track to reclaim the vast majority of those seats.” .
Johnson will be absent from this week’s PMQs after the landslide by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton last Thursday, with Dominic Raab replacing the prime minister. The defeats led to the resignation of his party’s president, Oliver Dowden, and the anger of the deputies was exacerbated by Johnson’s subsequent comments that he intended to fight two more elections.
Conservative MPs, most of whom voted against Johnson in the censorship vote, will vote in the coming weeks on new members for the 1922 executive committee that sets the rules on censorship votes. Ministers and those on the government payroll cannot vote in elections.
Several committee members have left to become ministerial aides and conservative sources said they expected them to be replaced by critics with the prime minister, making it more likely that the rules would be changed to allow a new vote of confidence. Johnson is currently protected from a vote one more year.
A former minister said he had warned his comrades to hurry too soon for another vote. “I think you can start to look ridiculous, my opinion is that it is time for the cabinet to act now that MPs no longer have the capacity to do so,” they said.
No rule change will be able to take effect before September, which means Johnson’s job is likely to be safe until the party conference.
On Monday, former Cabinet Secretary David Davis, who has called for Johnson’s resignation, said he was not in favor of an immediate change in the rules, but said the prime minister should change his approach.
“Do you want a leader, whoever he is, to look over his shoulder every month at this tax hike or whatever? So no, I don’t want the rules to change, “he said. “I don’t think they will change either, so he has to take advantage of the year he has to show us that he can really deliver on the promises we made in the 2019 election, which were low taxes.
“The simple truth is that there are priorities in everyone’s life and for most people the ” red wall ” seats and in fact seats like mine, I’m from the north, the first problem is to pay bills and if the government is stopping you from doing that, that’s a real problem for a Conservative government. “
Johnson, who is attending the G7 summit in Germany, insisted that the issue of his leadership had been addressed in the vote of confidence. “We solved it a couple of weeks ago,” he told reporters.