Rebel Conservatives have given Boris Johnson until the party conference to change direction or warn that the rules could be changed to allow for another challenge, as Dominic Raab said the “democratic outcome” of the vote.
Johnson lost the confidence of 41% of his MPs in a vote on his leadership on Monday night, after weeks of anger over parties breaking the blockade on Downing Street and fearing party leadership would cause a fall in the ballot boxes.
The Prime Minister will try to reassert control of the political agenda this week by confirming that the government will introduce legislation to repeal parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a move that could further heighten tensions with some of his party’s critics. .
He will also give a major speech on housing on Thursday, which includes the intention to extend the right to purchase to housing associations.
A historic review of NHS leadership, aimed at “raising the bar” of failed trusts, is also expected to be reported this week. On Tuesday morning, Johnson will report to his office on new plans in the coming weeks to alleviate the costs of caring for children, widely reported so that caregivers can have more children.
In the Cabinet, Johnson will also reiterate his desire to improve delivery, especially with regard to the cost of living, crime and backwardness of the NHS.
“This is a government that does what matters most to the people of this country,” he will say, reiterating the government’s successes in home support and hiring police officers.
“Today I am committed to continuing to meet these priorities. We stand by the British people who work hard and will continue to work.”
But one of Johnson’s top critics, Tobias Ellwood, warned on Tuesday that the strength of feelings against him was so great – with 148 MPs voting against the prime minister – that he only had months to change it. According to current party rules, Johnson should be safe for a year, but the rules may be changed by the later 1922 Committee executive.
He told Sky News: “There’s a lot of work to be done: remodeling is needed now – bring in new talent and start focusing on the big issues.
“We do things that please the country and not just our base: more exciting policies than the privatization of Channel 4 and the recovery of imperial measures, but a real economic strategy that will actually help deal with the crisis of the cost of life “.
When asked how long he believes Johnson will remain as prime minister, he added: “I think we are talking about a few months, until the party conference. [at the beginning of October]. ”
Raab has said Conservatives should “draw a line in the sand” after Monday’s confidence vote. “It simply came to our notice then. We are moving forward to offer the people of the country and this is how we do the right thing for our constituents. “
When asked if he could count on rebel colleagues to support politics, Raab added, “There’s a lot, when you look at our political agenda, that unites us.”
The Deputy Prime Minister said the potential losses for the Conservative Party in the next two by-elections in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and Tiverton and Honiton in Devon, were not an indication of the party’s fortune.
Speaking to LBC, he said: “By-elections are usually an opportunity for a protest vote in a way that is not the case in general elections. Governments of the day often lose by-elections to win in general elections “But we will do everything we can to win these two seats and support the two great candidates.”