Boris Johnson.Photo: A Images via Getty
The Conservative Party leader, 57, won 211 out of a possible 359 votes in an anonymous ballot in London, which was held after an unknown number of Conservative MPs submitted letters stating they could no longer trust him to effectively run the U.K. government.
A placard calling on Boris Johnson to resign.Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty
Despite this, Johnson was in typical bullish mood after the result was announced around 3 p.m. EDT.
“I think it’s an extremely good, positive, conclusive, decisive result which enables us to move on and unite and focus,” Johnson told the BBC. “What we need to do now is come together as a government, as a party, and that is exactly what we now can do.”
After the prime minister earned 31 votes above the 180-vote threshold required to survive the takedown, Brady said, “I can therefore announce that the parliamentary party does have confidence.”
But while Johnson’s win technically keeps him safe, the sheer size of the rebellion against him may ultimately make his position untenable — as it did with May, his predecessor, who was forced out of Downing Street within seven months of winning her own confidence vote.
May and Thatcher both had a smaller percentage of rebels than Johnson when they were forced to resign, putting a dark cloud over Johnson’s ministry.
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Boris Johnson and Carrie Johnson.Stefan Rousseau/WPA Pool/Getty
In astatementshared on April 12, Johnson said he “received a fixed penalty notice from the Metropolitan Police relating to an event in Downing Street on 19th June 2020,” adding that he paid the fine “immediately” and issued an apology.
“In a spirit of openness and humility, I want to be completely clear about what happened on that date,” he continued, noting the eight meetings he oversaw at Downing Street (a.k.a. Number 10) that day, which included a committee sit-down about a plan for COVID-19. Johnson, 57, added that he left Downing Street for several hours to visit a school in Hemel Hempstead.
“And amongst all these engagements, on a day that happened to be my birthday, there was a brief gathering in the Cabinet Room shortly after 2pm, lasting for less than 10 minutes, during which people I work with kindly passed on their good wishes,” he explained.
In a separate development, senior British civil servant Sue Gray, who oversees ethics inquiries for the British government, published ahighly critical reportinto the Downing Street parties on May 25 — including one that continued until 4am on the eve of thefuneral of Prince Philipin Windsor Castle.
Boris Johnson and Queen Elizabeth.Jack Hill/WPA Pool/Getty Images
“Against the backdrop of the pandemic, when the Government was asking citizens to accept far-reaching restrictions on their lives, some of the behavior surrounding these gatherings is difficult to justify,” Gray said in the report.
“At least some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time.”
After Gray’s findings were published, Johnsonmade a statement at the House of Commons, telling members of Parliament, “I am humbled and I have learned a lesson.”
His political opponents, however, are already suggesting that his time inside Downing Street is now drawing to a close.
Opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer told LBC Radio on Monday that that the confidence vote represented “the beginning of the end” for Johnson, adding that the Tory MPs had “to show some leadership and vote against the prime minister” in the national interest.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey tweeted, “It’s judgment day for Conservative MPs and their sleaze-ridden prime minister.
“If they fail to sack Boris Johnson, it will be an insult to all those who made sacrifices and suffered while he partied.”
source: people.com
