Johnson narrowly wins confidence vote as rebellion emerges
Johnson needed a simple majority, 180 votes or more, to continue in office. 211 Tory MPs voted in favor of the prime minister, compared to a huge 148 MPs who voted against his leadership.
The majority of just 63 MPs means more than 40 percent of the Conservative party no longer have confidence in their leader.
Despite the prime minister being immune from another leadership challenge for 12 months, the number of MPs who view Johnson as liability will seek to severely undermine his leadership by opposing any legislation the government tries to pass in parliament.
Experts believe it might be difficult for Johnson to stay in his capacity as UK Prime Minister when the country heads to the next general election. To put the vote into perspective, Johnson has suffered a bigger rebellion than his predecessor, Theresa May, when she faced her own confidence vote in 2018 amid the Brexit impasse.
The scale of the win here has given the public an idea about the vast level of rebel backbenchers who are extremely angry with their party leader.
The leader of the main opposition Labour party, Keir Starmer denounced the Conservative MPs who he said: “ignored the British public” by voting in favor of Johnson, “the Conservative Party had a decision to make. To show some backbone or to back Boris Johnson.”
He said, “The British public are fed up. Fed up with a prime minister who promises big but never delivers. Fed up with a prime minister who has presided over a culture of lies and lawbreaking at the heart of government. Fed up with a Prime Minister who is utterly unfit for the great office he holds.”
“Conservative MPs made their choice tonight. They have ignored the British public and hitched themselves and their party firmly to Boris Johnson and all he represents,” he added.
The Labour leader also described the last few months as “a farce” and claims that Labour will “get rid of this tired, out of touch government and get Britain back on track.” Something that remains to be seen.
Senior Tory MP Roger Gale said he “won’t support” Johnson despite the confidence vote win. He said, “there are a lot of hurdles ahead” and that the PM should “consider his position” following the result.
The Tory MP added that “Johnson should reflect on the fact that 148 MPs, more than four in ten, said they do not have confidence in his leadership and that he should “stand aside”.
Critics believe Johnson will seek to downplay the result and try to distract the nation with announcements on issues such as the Northern Ireland protocol or the war in Ukraine, but the horizon doesn’t look bright for the British Prime Minister.
With so many of his party having voted against him, the PM has effectively lost his majority support in parliament and the risk of his government being paralyzed is now real.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES