'No confidence' vote could topple Johnson today
3 Min Read
A confidence vote, which is being pushed by the Tories, may oust Johnson from power.
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Boris Johnson. (Getty Images)
After the Partygate scandal which left even the conservative Tory party in disapproval of Boris Johnson, the UK's current prime minister, members of his party have been pressing for a confidence vote which may, in high potential, oust him from power today.
The vote will be held today, after Conservative Party official Graham Brady announced that he has received enough letters from lawmakers which demand a vote on Johnson's leadership. The letters, which amount to 54 - 15% of the House of Commons Conservatives - have been received by Brady
For months, dozens of Tory members have been calling Johnson out on his failures, demanding that he resign.
See more: Most of the British public wants Boris Johnson to resign
If the result were negative, Johnson will have to drop his position as PM, forcing him to either resign or call for a general election, essentially leading to a new vote and a new prime minister.
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.
“I am struck by a number of my colleagues who were really concerned that it’s almost impossible for the PM to say, ‘I want to move on,’ as we cannot move on without regaining public trust, and I am not sure that’s possible in the current situation.”
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 which 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.
