Rishi Sunak, the chancellor of the Treasury, was one of many cabinet members who expressed support for Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Credit … Matt Dunham / Associated Press
LONDON – As Conservative lawmakers prepare for a private vote on the future of Boris Johnson, British airwaves and social media were filled on Monday with very public expressions of support and criticism of the harassed prime minister.
“I will vote for Boris tonight,” Michael Gove, a cabinet minister who includes housing policy and local government, wrote on Twitter. “We have to get over that moment and unite behind Boris.”
Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, also expressed his support for Mr. Johnson. “The Prime Minister has shown the strong leadership that our country needs,” he wrote on Twitter. “I support him today and will continue to support him.”
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, told BBC radio that he did not support the censorship vote. “The country wants to see us focus on the big challenges ahead,” he said.
Other cabinet members also expressed their support for Mr. Johnson, including Dominic Raab, the secretary of state for justice; Brexit Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg; Steve Barclay, Chief of Staff to Mr. Johnson; the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis; and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
But several Conservative lawmakers expressed differing views.
Jeremy Hunt, the former health secretary who was the defeated rival of Mr. Johnson in the last Conservative leadership competition, has been discussed as a possible successor until he reaches a public challenge. On Monday he announced that he was going to vote against the prime minister. “Today’s decision is to change or lose. I will vote for the change, “he wrote on Twitter.
John Penrose, a member of parliament who also held an unpaid post as the government’s anti-corruption champion, left the post, saying the prime minister had almost certainly broken the code of conduct for government ministers. “This is a resigned issue for me, and it should be for the Prime Minister as well,” he wrote.
Jesse Norman, a former sponsor of Mr. Johnson wrote a letter to him withdrawing his support, citing a number of reasons, including the break-up of the blockade on Downing Street and a plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which he described as “ugly”. . ”
“Prolonging this farce by holding office not only insults the electorate,” he wrote, but also makes a change of government more likely in the next election.
Opposition politicians have urged conservatives to vote against Mr. Johnson.
“I think they have to show some leadership and vote against the prime minister,” Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labor Party, told LBC radio on Monday. “I think he’s lost confidence in the country. I think that’s pretty clear with all the evidence I’ve seen.”
Ed Davey, the leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said Monday was “trial day” for the Conservatives. “If they fail to fire Boris Johnson, it will be an insult to all those who made sacrifices and suffered while he was partying,” he wrote on Twitter.