Boris Johnson narrowly survives party no-confidence vote

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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson narrowly survived a punishing no-confidence vote Monday evening and retained his position, according to Graham Brady, the chairman of the Conservative Party's parliamentary group known as the 1922 Committee.    

The BBC quoted Brady as saying, "I can announce that the parliamentary party does have confidence in the prime minister." 

In total, 148 voted against Johnson, while 211 conservative lawmakers voted in favor of the British PM, despite the anger over Downing Street's lockdown-breaking parties and overall discontent with Johnson's leadership.

Though Johnson survived the vote, he is now a "wounded leader" as The Washington Post described him, as he will be struggling to rebuild his brand against the soaring inflation and reduced public trust.

Johnson's leadership and legitimacy have been in a crisis since the Partygate scandal rose, exposing Downing Street's refusal to abide by its own rules and policies at a time when Britain was in lockdown for Covid-19.

Tory MP Stephen Hammond remarked that he "cannot and will not defend the indefensible.

Johnson's Conservative party will be having a hard time retaining two parliamentary seats in by-elections after two MPs were forced to resign, one for watching porn in the House of Commons and another for sexually assaulting a minor.

Last December, Johnson suffered a by-election defeat in a constituency that has always been a sure-win for his Conservative Party, a result that raised serious questions about his leadership.

His party won the seat in North Shropshire, central England, by a large margin in 2019, but the Liberal Democrats wiped it out in December's vote, intensifying mutiny among Conservative MPs.

The British PM brushed off demands to resign, alleging that he cannot simply abandon his duties in the face of economic hardships amid the war in Ukraine.