As of: 6/6/2022 11:41 p.m
The vote of no confidence in British Prime Minister Johnson has failed. In the Tory parliamentary group vote, he prevailed by 211 to 148 votes. That leaves party chairman and prime minister. Johnson spoke of a “convincing victory”.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived his Conservative Party’s vote of no confidence. Committee chair Graham Brady said a majority of 211 Tory MPs voted in favor of Johnson. They voted to keep Johnson as party leader. On the other hand, 148 parliamentarians voted no confidence in him. In the British Conservatives, the office of Prime Minister is linked to that of party leader.
Johnson himself said after the vote that he had achieved a “convincing victory”. The prime minister took it easy that 148 MPs had voted against him: “What that means is that the government can go ahead and focus on stuff that I think is really important to the people.” It is time for the party to unite.
No vote of no confidence possible for a year
The trigger for the vote was the affair about parties in Johnson’s official residence during the corona lockdown. The prime minister tolerated the celebrations and even attended some of them. For a vote of no confidence to be successful, more than 50 percent of the 359 Tory MPs would have had to vote in secret for this step. In the end, 32 votes were missing to force Johnson to resign. After the failure of the vote, according to the internal party rules, no further voting of this kind is possible for a year.
British Conservatives give Prime Minister Johnson their vote of confidence
Sven Lohmann, ARD London, daily topics 11:15 p.m., June 7, 2022
rescission claims and fines
Johnson has been under domestic political pressure ever since it gradually emerged in the winter that excessive parties were being held at his official residence in London’s Downing Street – at a time when the British were sitting out long lockdowns and were unable to say goodbye to dying relatives.
Party colleagues have repeatedly demanded that Johnson resign. The prime minister was also fined for attending one of the celebrations – becoming the first sitting British prime minister to break the law.
However, the number of critics did not reach the necessary threshold to trigger the vote of no confidence. The outbreak of war in Ukraine led some to believe at times that this was not the right time for a change in leadership. A vote of no confidence will be held under British Conservative rules if 15 per cent of the group votes no confidence in the PM.
Nicolai von Ondarza, political scientist, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, on the failed vote of no confidence in British Prime Minister Johnson
tagesschau24 9:45 p.m., 6.6.2022
Devastating investigative report
First that recently released investigative report by top official Sue Gray, who gave Downing Street officials a devastating certificate of good conduct, encouraged other MPs to write their letters to the relevant 1922 Committee. During the Queen’s centenary celebrations on Friday, Johnson was booed from among royal fans. Brady finally announced on Monday morning that the vote would take place in the evening: the necessary number of letters from Tory MPs for this – at least 54 – had been received.
Johnson had repeatedly apologized in Parliament for the incidents, but refused to resign. After the no-confidence vote became known, his spokesman said the prime minister saw this as an opportunity to “end the month-long speculation”. It allows the government to “draw a line” and take care of the real concerns of the people.
However, the very fact that the vote took place is considered a heavy blow. Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May also survived a vote of no confidence – albeit politically badly damaged. A few months later she finally gave up due to a lack of support. The 59 percent share that now backed Johnson was lower than the 63 percent that May had received in 2018.