Boris Johnson saved his job. Momentarily, at least. On the evening of Monday June 6, 211 Conservative MPs voted in favor of keeping him at the head of their party and 148 for his departure. He needed the positive vote of 50% of the 359 Tory MPs to remain the leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It’s done.
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This result is a real relief for a leader personally attacked for more than six months in the “Partygate” affair, the sixteen aperitifs and evenings organized in the Prime Minister’s work residence during the confinements. But it reveals a strong internal opposition: it is, in percentages, as bad as the result obtained by Margaret Thatcher in 1990. The latter had dropped the case two days later.
This time, in all likelihood, Boris Johnson should do everything on the contrary to hang on. He cannot be targeted by another motion of no confidence for a year, under current Conservative Party rules. When the result was announced, Boris Johnson immediately hailed a “convincing result” which allows ” move on ” .
The crucial weight of donors
During this intense day on Monday, Boris Johnson did everything to convince the hesitant MPs. As tradition dictates, he visited the deputies of the 1922 committee, which brings together all the Tory deputies who are not members of the government, alongside Rishi Sunak, his finance minister, until recently considered the favorite for his estate. The motto of his team: “Avoid a civil war” which would split the party and favor Labour’s power.
A few minutes earlier, a group of important party donors had given him perhaps crucial support. “The country needs leadership”, they had assured in a joint letter. “Business needs certainty and stability, so we need Boris Johnson to remain our Prime Minister. » They have been heard.
“I will vote to change”
The vote was announced Monday morning at 8 a.m. by a letter from Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee. “The threshold of 15% of the parliamentary party asking for a vote of confidence in the leader of the Conservative party has been exceeded”, he indicated. It meant that at least fifty-four Tory MPs had sent him a letter asking for Boris Johnson to be replaced as leader of their party.
The motivation of the majority of protesting Conservative MPs is above all electoral. In a long message posted on Twitter, MP Jeremy Hunt, beaten in July 2019 by Boris Johnson in the election to replace Theresa May, had estimated that “Today’s decision is between changing and losing. I will vote to change”.
The political situation is now clear for a few months. Boris Johnson will be able to focus on the social crisis caused by the 9% inflation which affects the daily life of the British and on the resolution of the impasse on the Northern Irish protocol.
But much remains to be done to convince the voters, and the deputies of his party, to give him their confidence again. Currently, the Conservatives are six to eight points behind Labour. And the main reason given by respondents for their rejection of the Tories has a name: Boris Johnson.