Michael Howard, the former leader of the Conservative Party, has told cabinet members to “consider their positions” as he said Boris Johnson should resign.
Howard, who led the party between 2003 and 2005 in opposition and is now a couple, Lord Howard of Lympne, said World in one on BBC Radio 4: “The party and, most importantly, the country would be better off under new leadership.
The comments will add more pressure to the Prime Minister after Oliver Dowden resigned as chairman of the Conservative Party this morning following the Conservatives’ major defeats in the by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton.
Letter of resignation from Oliver Dowden
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a member of the Cotswolds and treasurer of the 1922 Tory Committee of Deputies, urged Johnson to shorten his visit to Rwanda, where he will attend the Commonwealth summit, and told his party how to resolve it. the crisis in which it finds itself.
Clifton-Brown told Times Radio that later banks could still consider “whether we should trigger a leadership contest,” although Johnson survived a vote of confidence earlier this month. The committee’s current rules mean Johnson can’t face another challenge for a year.
Dowden, who was seen as an ally of the prime minister, said in his resignation letter that Conservative supporters were “distressed and disappointed by recent events”.
In Tiverton and Honiton, in Devon, Richard Foord of the Liberal Democrats annulled a majority of more than 24,000, becoming the largest Conservative margin annulled in a British by-election. The record was previously held by Labor, after the party won at Liverpool Wavertree in 1935, where the Conservative majority had been 23,972.
Sir Keir Starmer meets with new Wakefield MP Simon Lightwood this morning
DANNY LAWSON / PA
The Lib Dems got a 6,144 majority over Tiverton and Honiton, with a swing of nearly 30 percentage points.
In Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Labor won by a majority of 4,925 with a 12.7 percentage point swing. It was an expected victory for Sir Keir Starmer’s party, which lost control of the constituency for the first time since 1932 in the last general election.
Starmer said the Conservatives were “absolutely imploding” after Dowden’s resignation. He said the victory in Wakefield was a “great result for the Labor Party”, adding: “This puts us now absolutely on track for a Labor government, which is absolutely approaching.”
Speaking in Rwanda after the by-elections, Johnson said he would “listen” to the voters’ message, but vowed to “continue” as prime minister.
Come home and fix this mess, PM said
A senior Conservative has told Boris Johnson to return home from Rwanda and deal with the “really serious situation” his party finds itself in so parliamentarians can decide whether to dismiss him or not (writes Geraldine Scott).
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 Tory Committee of Deputies, told Times Radio that Johnson should expose to MPs how he was going to resolve the crisis the Conservative Party is in.
“And if we in the party are not satisfied with his explanation, then I think we will trigger a leadership competition,” he said.
“There are two ways to persuade him to resign. One is on the part of the entire 1922 Committee executive, having taken into account the broader views of the entire parliamentary party, then deciding to change the rules. ‘another way is for the majority of the cabinet to say it has no confidence in the prime minister, in which case it could not continue.
“So I think there will be a lot of conversations next week and we’ll have to see what happens.”
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, announcing the result of the vote of confidence
STEFAN ROUSSEAU / PA
Currently, the 1922 Committee rules make it impossible for a Prime Minister to face another challenge for a year after winning a vote of confidence. However, there are suggestions that the rules could be changed.
Clifton-Brown added: “A week or two ago I thought it would continue to lead us to the next election. I think now we have to take it very seriously if it will be able to fix the problems I have alluded to, or if we really need to unleash this leadership campaign. “
Elections to be held next month for the 1922 Committee executive could be key to deciding whether a rule change is moving forward.
Andrew Bridgen, the MP for North West Leicestershire, who had previously sent a letter of censure to the Prime Minister, said he would run in the election with the aim of changing the rules.
He told GB News: “I’m going to put my hat in the ring in a manifesto of rule change. I think [for] All the candidates who will present their name next week for the committee, I have no doubt that the main question is whether you are for or against the rule change. “
Like me, maybe it’s time for Johnson to continue, says the dishonored former MP
The former Conservative MP for Tiverton & Honiton has said that Boris Johnson’s ability to win votes is now “questionable” and that the Prime Minister may have to follow his example and move on with his life (writes Geraldine Scott).
Neil Parish, who resigned after admitting to having seen pornography in parliament, sparking the by-elections the Conservatives lost to the Liberal Democrats overnight, said he was disappointed that he was no longer a Member of Parliament for the constituency after 12 years. .
He told Times Radio, “I’m overcoming it. Life goes on.”
Neil Parish had to resign as deputy for Tiverton & Honiton
JOHN KEEBLE / GETTY IMAGES
He said: “We are all expendable in politics, we have to remember that and therefore I have to pick up the pieces, go on with my life and accept the situation, and I suspect that at some point. Stage that the prime minister may have to do the same “.
Parish said the problem with the prime minister was now a “matter of trust”.
He said: “We are quite venal as MPs. We vote for those who can win. We don’t vote for those who can’t. And I think, you know, the question mark now is: Is Boris still a winner or not? And I think it’s very questionable at the moment. “
Parish also did not rule out a reappearance in the future. He said: “I will never rule anything out at this stage, because he is very stupid in politics.”
But he added: “I suspect my important type of political career is over.”
The Lib Dem leader issues a warning to the Conservatives
Liberal Democrats will rally an “army of activists” to chase the Conservatives “seat by seat” if the party does not abandon Boris Johnson, Sir Ed Davey has said (writes Geraldine Scott).
In a victory speech in Tiverton, where the Liberals outscored a Conservative majority of 24,000, the party leader stood with new MP Richard Foord next to a blue door with the words “it’s time to show the door to Boris “writings.
Davey said: “Boris Johnson has to go. But until the next election, the only people who can show the door to Boris Johnson are his own party.”
Richard Foord got more than 52% of the vote
ANDREW MATHEWS / PA
The Lib Dems have had a number of successes in former Conservative strongholds, such as North Shropshire and Chesham & Amersham.
Addressing Conservative MPs, Davey said: “If you can’t get rid of this law-breaking prime minister, if your party continues to collect taxes and doesn’t help the people, if you continue to allow Boris Johnson to go without any plan for our country, the Liberal Democrats will come after you, seat by seat.
“We will bring together an army of activists. We will offer the change that people want, and the change that our country needs. We will expel you from power.”
Speaking to Times Radio, the party leader said: “This seems like the mid-1990s [when] we were seeing the Liberal Democrats win many back-to-back by-elections. Probably not as many as we’ve done in the last 12 months, but we were still earning a lot. We saw a Conservative government that was clearly without ideas and that had been taking too long and there was a sense of the end of the regime. And in the wake of those Liberal Democrat by-elections we massively rose to the next general election. The Tories suffered a historic defeat. And that’s the sense I have right now. I think we could be watching Boris Johnson ousted before the election by his own MPs, or else he and the Conservatives ousted from power in the next general. [election]. ”
Wendy Chamberlain, Lib Dem leader, congratulates Foord on Tiverton
ANDREW MATHEWS / PA
The Lib Dems outnumbered a large Conservative majority to win by more than 6,000 votes in the poll, which was triggered by the resignation of Conservative MP Neil Parish after he was allowed to view pornography on his phone in the House of Commons.
Foord, a married father of three, said earlier that “every day Boris Johnson clings to office, brings more shame, chaos and neglect.”
He said: “I also have a simple message for the Conservative MPs who support this failed prime minister: the Liberal Democrats are coming.
“If you do not take steps to restore British decency, respect and values on Downing Street, you will also face electoral defeats like the one we saw here tonight.
“It is time to do what is right for our country. You know in your heart that your leader is not the person to lead this great nation into the future. “
Why voters lost faith in Devon Fortress
Lifelong Conservative voters in the former Conservative stronghold of Tiverton & Honiton said they switched to the Liberal Democrats or decided not to vote after disillusioning themselves with the Boris Johnson government (writes Will Humphries).
Diane Margetson, 62, Interflora’s florist delivery driver on Cullompton’s main street, said she had “always” voted conservative, but during the by-election campaign, the Liberals were “the only ones we’ve seen.”
“Boris must try to hurt him and fix things …