UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reportedly faces a challenge to his grip on power, possibly this Monday, as members of his own party are pressing for a confidence vote after the “Partygate” scandal shattered public support for their embattled leader.
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The Telegraph reported that the Prime Minister may face a no confidence vote as early as Monday, as MPs return to Parliament after a recess related to Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Late last week, The Sunday Times cited unnamed sources as saying that chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers Graham Brady had already received 67 letters of no confidence. The statutes require 54 such letters (15 percent of the Conservative Party's 359 MPs) for Johnson to face a confidence vote in a secret ballot.
Graham Brady reportedly set to announce vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson by Tory MPs – live https://t.co/VtZuN2xLwd
— The Guardian (@guardian) June 6, 2022
A negative result would force Johnson to resign or call for an early general election, giving voters an opportunity to choose new leadership. Johnson’s party has been taking a political beating since revelations that his office held alcohol-fueled parties at Downing Street and Whitehall during nationwide COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
The Tories will find it difficult to retain two seats in Parliament that will be up for grabs later this month in by-elections, after two MPs were forced to resign. One, for watching pornography in the House of Commons on his telephone, and the other for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy. The opposition Labour Party candidate is polling with a double-digit lead in at least one of those races.
'A Culture Of Casual Law-Breaking': Former Minister Blasts Boris Johnson Over Partygate https://t.co/rUfXkiG71W
— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) June 6, 2022
Dozens of Tory MPs have publicly called for Johnson to resign for failures of leadership and allegedly misleading Parliament. The PM has shrugged off those demands, saying earlier this week that he can’t “abandon” the nation amid economic hardships and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Last Friday, Johnson was booed by the crowds at London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral as he arrived for the National Service of Thanksgiving, part of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebration.