Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson will face a no-confidence vote on Monday evening after Sir Graham Brady, chair of the influential 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, announced that he had received the necessary number of critical letters to trigger a ballot.Sir Graham said the vote – at which the prime minister will need to secure the support of 50 per cent of his own MPs to survive – would take place in the House of Commons between 6-8pm and that he had informed Mr Johnson of the development on Sunday night.”We agreed the timetable for the confidence vote to take place and he shared my view – which is also in line with the rules that we have in place – that that vote should happen as soon as could reasonably take place and that would be today,” Sir Graham told reporters outside Parliament.Asked precisely how many letters the committee had received and when the threshold of 54 had been passed, its chair declined to answer, explaining: “It is slightly complicated because some colleagues had asked specifically that it should not be until the end of the Jubilee celebrations.”Anger remains rife among Tory MPs over Downing Street rule-breaking during the coronavirus pandemic, a scandal that became known as “Partygate” and which has dogged Mr Johnson for six months, raising persistent questions about his leadership.The long-awaited publication of senior civil servant Sue Gray’s report into the affair last month did nothing to quell the ill-feeling, leading to the extraordinary spectacle of the PM and his wife, Carrie Johnson, being booed by monarchists as they arrived at the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral in central London on Friday for a ceremony to honour the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.While some disgruntled Conservatives have preferred to keep their letter-writing a secret, others have been vocal in demanding Mr Johnson’s resignation.Here is a full list of Tory MPs who have called for the PM to stand down.1. Sir Roger Gale, MP for North ThanetThe first Tory MP to declare no confidence in the prime minister last year, Sir Roger described the notorious Partygate pictures – which show the PM apparently toasting his then-communications chief Lee Cain with a plastic cup of sparkling wine in a room littered with alcohol bottles on 13 November 2020 – as “damning”.The MP for North Thanet submitted a letter of no confidence in the PM in December, but subsequently said it was not the right time for a leadership election, given Russia’s war in Ukraine.However, the veteran Conservative has since told Times Radio: “It’s absolutely clear that there was a party, that he attended it, that he was raising a toast to glass one of his colleagues. And therefore, he misled us from the despatch box. And, honourably, there is one answer.”2. Steve Baker, MP for WycombeFormer Conservative minister Steve Baker called for Mr Johnson to quit in April.“The prime minister now should be long gone,” the senior backbencher told the Commons. “Really, the prime minister should just know the gig’s up.’”Mr Baker, deputy leader of the Tories’ Covid Recovery Group, said he found he could not “forgive” the PM for “not obeying the letter and spirit” of the law.He declined to comment on the most recent photos, but tweeted a government poster issued during lockdown depicting a seriously ill Covid patient with the words: “Look her in the eyes and tell her you never bend the rules.”3. William Wragg, MP for Hazel GroveMr Wragg revealed he had submitted a no-confidence letter during a Commons debate on whether Mr Johnson should be referred to a parliamentary committee over Partygate.He said it was “utterly depressing to be asked to defend the indefensible… I cannot reconcile myself to the prime minister’s continued leadership.”4. Anthony Mangnall, MP for TotnesThe backbencher submitted a no-confidence letter earlier this year – saying Mr Johnson’s “actions and mistruths” were overshadowing the government’s work.Mr Mangnall told a constituent he stood by the resignation call following the PM’s police fine, according to Sky News.5. Mark Harper, MP for Forest of DeanThe former chief whip called for the PM to go in the Commons, as he also shared a letter of no-confidence he sent to the 1922 Committee. More

A confidence vote in Boris Johnson’s leadership marks the “beginning of the end” of his premiership, Sir Keir Starmer has claimed.Ahead of a secret ballot on Monday evening, the Labour leader also urged Tory MPs to vote against the prime minister in order to “get rid” of him.His remarks come just moments after the chair of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, announced rebels had reached the threshold for a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership.In order to remain in No 10, the prime minister must now win the backing of at least 50 per cent of his colleagues in the ballot being held between 6-8pm in the corridors of the House of Commons.Speaking to LBC Radio, Sir Keir said Tory MPs have “got to show some leadership and vote against the prime minister”.“Looking at the national interest, I think Tory MP’s have got to step up, show leadership and get rid of him.“The public have made their mind up about this man, they don’t think he’s really telling the truth about many, many things, not just Partygate, but just a general sense that this man doesn’t really tell the truth and can’t be trusted”.Asked about the possibility of the prime minister surviving the vote, he replied: “History tells us this is the beginning of the end.“If you look at the previous examples of no confidence votes even when Conservative prime ministers survive those votes — he might survive it tonight — the damage is already done and usually they fall reasonably swiftly afterwards.”He added: “I don’t really mind who I fight [in a general election], but I do think it’s in the national interest that he should go.”However, a No 10 spokesperson said: “Tonight is a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on, delivering on the people’s priorities.“The PM welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs and will remind them that when they’re united and focused on the issues that matter to voters there is no more formidable political force”.Theresa May’s former chief-of-staff, Gavin Barwell, who was by the side of the former prime minister when she survived a confidence vote in 2018, but resigned six months later, said Mr Johnson would be “wounded” by the vote.“The way to draw a line and move on is to change leader. If the PM wins tonight, he will be wounded and will still face the Privileges Committee investigation. Partygate isn’t going to go away”In an attempt to save his premiership, Mr Johnson will also address Tory MPs at the 1922 Committee ahead of Monday evening’s confidence vote in his leadership.The Labour leader also reiterated his pledge to resign his position if he is issued with a fixed penalty notice by Durham Police, but insisted there had been “no breach” of the Covid rules.“I will do the right thing and step down because it’s very important, I think, for everybody to hear and to know that not all politicians are there same,” he added.“I think the prime minister has made a big mistake by trying to cling on in relation to the law-breaking that we know went on in Downing Street”. More

Boris Johnson will face a no confidence vote after it was announced the Tory rebels reached the required threshold to hold a ballot, Sir Graham Brady has announced.To survive the vote — triggered amid intense anger over the Partygate scandal — the prime minister will now need to win the support of 50 per cent of his colleagues in a secret ballot.In an email to Tory MPs announcing the vote, the chair of the Conservatives’ 1922 commitee, Sir Graham, said the vote will be held between 6-8pm on Monday in the House of Commons.In a brief statement, he confirmed he had received the 54 letters from Tory MPs needed to trigger a vote, but did not specify the actual numbers of letters recieved.Sir Graham, who revealed some MPs had post-dated their no confidence letters until after the Queen’s Jubilee, communicated the news with the prime minister on Sunday evening and agreed the timetable for a vote.It raises the prospect of Mr Johnson being ousted from No 10 over the scandal that has rocked his premiership and under three years after winning the Tories’ biggest majority in decades in 2019.Just moments before the vote was announced, former minister Jesse Norman published a withering letter of no confidence, saying the prime minister had presided over a “culture of casual law-breaking”.He suggested Mr Johnson’s claim to be vindicated by the senior civil servant Sue Gray’s report was “grotesque” and said the party could not “squander” the next two years.But a No 10 spokesperson said: “Tonight is a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on, delivering on the people’s priorities. More

Britain’s governing Conservatives will hold a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday that could oust him as Britain’s leader.Party official Graham Brady says he has received enough letters from lawmakers demanding a vote on Johnson’s leadership to trigger one. That happens if 54 Tory lawmakers — 15% of the party’s group in the House of Commons — write to Brady.“The threshold of 15% has been passed,” Brady said. He said the vote would take place in person in the House of Commons on Monday evening.If Johnson loses the vote among the 359 Conservative lawmakers, he will be replaced as Conservative leader and prime minister. If he wins, he can’t face another challenge for a year.Johnson has been struggling to turn a page on months of ethics scandals, most notably over rule-breaking parties in government buildings during COVID-19 lockdowns. Late last month an investigator’s report on what has become known as “partygate” slammed a culture of rule-breaking inside the prime minister’s No. 10 Downing St. office. Civil service investigator Sue Gray described alcohol-fueled bashes held by Downing Street staff members in 2020 and 2021, when pandemic restrictions prevented U.K. residents from socializing or even visiting dying relatives. Gray said the “senior leadership team” must bear responsibility for “failures of leadership and judgment.”The prime minister said he was “humbled” and took “full responsibility” — but insisted it was now time to “move on” and focus on Britain’s battered economy and the war in Ukraine.But a growing number of Conservatives feel that Johnson, the charismatic leader who won them a huge parliamentary majority in 2019, is now a liability.If Johnson is ousted it would spark a Conservative leadership contest, in which several prominent government ministers are likely to run.Conservative lawmaker Roger Gale, a Johnson critic, said “we have some very good alternatives to the prime minister so we’re not short of choice.“Any single one of those people in my view would make a better prime minister than the one that we’ve got at the moment,” he told the BBC.Discontent seems to have come to a head over a parliamentary break that coincided with celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. For many, the four-day long weekend was a chance to relax — but there was no respite for Johnson, who was booed by some onlookers as he arrived for a service in the queen’s honor at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Friday.Cabinet minister Steve Barclay, a Johnson ally, said toppling the leader now would be “indefensible.”“The problems we face aren’t easy to solve,” he wrote on the Conservative Home website. “Democracies around the world are all currently facing similar challenges. But under Boris Johnson’s leadership, our plan for jobs shows how we are navigating through these global challenges.“To disrupt that progress now would be inexcusable to many who lent their vote to us for the first time at the last general election, and who want to see our Prime Minister deliver the changes promised for their communities.” More

Cabinet minister Sajid Javid has admitted a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson’s leadership is “possible” amid speculation one could be triggered as soon as today.The health secretary said he was unaware whether the required rebel threshold had been reached, but highlighted a number of colleagues who had gone public.Under the party’s rules, 54 MPs must submit a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership to the chairman of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.If the the threshold is reached, the prime minister will have to secure the backing of 50 per cent of his MPs in a secret ballot in order to remain Tory leader.Speaking on Sky News, Mr Javid said: “If 54 letters are reached I’m sure a vote will be called. I do think it’s possible, but I don’t know”.He added: “This country doesn’t need a vote of confidence in the prime minister. What we need to be doing as a country is looking ahead to the challenges that exist.“If this threshold of 54 letters is reached there will be a confidence vote and in that case there should be. There may well be one.“If there is, the prime minister will stand and fight his corner with a very, very strong case. So let’s just wait and see what happens.”His remarks came after Steve Barclay, the Cabinet Office minister and chief-of-staff to the prime minister, told Tory MPs the next election would not be decided by the Sue Gray report into the Partygate scandal.Mr Barclay urged MPs not to “waste time and energy looking backwards and inwards, talking to ourselves about ourselves”.“The parliamentary majority we hold is incredibly rare. To waste time now on continued internal factionalisaton would be indefensible to many of our party members – given how hard they worked to secure that majority,” he said.“The problems we face aren’t easy to solve. Democracies around the world are all currently facing similar challenges.He added: “But under Boris Johnson’s leadership, our plan for jobs shows how we are navigated through these global challenges.“To disrupt that progress now would be inexcusable to many who lent their vote to us for the first time at the last general election, and who want to see our Prime Minister deliver the changes promised for their communities.” More

Boris Johnson says no-confidence vote win ‘decisive’ despite mass Tory rebellionBoris Johnson has hailed the “decisive” result of a vote of no-confidence into his leadership and said the government can now “move on” – despite a mass Tory rebellion against him.Shortly after the ballot – which Mr Johnson won by a margin of 211 to 148 – the prime minister told broadcasters he had a “far bigger mandate” than he did when voted in as leader in 2019, adding he was “happy with that”. Labour leader Keir Starmer said the British public was “fed up” with a prime minister that promised big and failed to deliver and who had “presided over a culture of lies and law breaking in parliament”.Despite the victory on Monday night, Mr Johnson faces an uncertain political future. A steady stream of Tory MPs have called publicly for him to stand down in the wake of Sue Gray’s report into breaches of the Covid-19 regulations in No 10 and Whitehall.And Tory concerns go far wider, covering his policies, which have seen the tax burden reach the highest in 70 years, and concerns about his leadership style.Show latest update

1654568100Tory MPs demand cabinet cull after deeply wounded Boris Johnson scrapes through confidence voteBoris Johnson is facing demands for a wholesale cull of his cabinet after scraping through a vote of no confidence in his leadership by 211 votes to 148.The PM’s victory in the ballot of Tory MPs spared him the humiliation of ejection from 10 Downing Street by his own party, but left him deeply wounded as he faces two by-elections later this month and a general election less than two years away.The tally of 41.2 per cent of Tory MPs opposing the leader was far worse than expected by Mr Johnson’s allies and significantly higher than the 36.9 per cent voting no confidence in Theresa May six months before she was forced from office.Joe Middleton7 June 2022 03:151654565423Who could replace Boris Johnson? Latest oddsDespite winning Monday’s no-confidence vote, Boris Johnson is facing speculation over his long-term future after 148 Tory MPs voted against him.Even before the no-confidence vote, he was odds-on at 4/9 to leave No 10 according to Betfair.The list of runners and riders to replace Mr Johnson has lengthened in recent months, but there are several contenders should he eventually be forced out of Downing Street.Matt Mathers reports.Joe Middleton7 June 2022 02:301654562723Boris Johnson is holed below the waterlineOur chief political commentator John Rentoul writes: Worse than Theresa May. That is not a comparison Boris Johnson wanted made, but his confidence vote was worse than hers, which she also “won”, in 2018. Johnson has lost the majority of his backbenchers and more than 40 per cent of the whole parliamentary party. For all the bravado beforehand about a one vote being enough, he knew he had to win by an emphatic margin, and he knows now that this is not it.Winning by 211 votes to 148 is in the middle of the grey zone of neither winning decisively nor losing. This is the result that Keir Starmer wanted: keeping Johnson afloat, but holed below the waterline and sinking slowly. Who knows how much more damage the prime minister can inflict on the Tory party’s reputation before he goes?Never mind all the mythology about the Conservative Party’s ruthlessness. It is not easy to be ruthless when you cannot be sure what your fellow conspirators are doing. A secret letter-writing campaign to trigger a secret ballot is a difficult system to organise, for or against the leader. If MPs had known what the result was going to be, they might have voted differently. Then, they might have been ruthless and decided to get rid of the prime minister straight away.Joe Middleton7 June 2022 01:451654560023Keir Starmer hits out at Tory MPs for supporting Johnson’s ‘law-breaking’ leadershipKeir Starmer hits out at Tory MPs for supporting Johnson’s ‘law-breaking’ leadershipJoe Middleton7 June 2022 01:001654557323ICYMI: Government aide quits as Scottish Tory MPs turn against Boris Johnson in confidence voteOne of the few Scots in Boris Johnson’s government quit his post to join the majority of Conservative MPs from north of the border who voted against the prime minister in Monday’s confidence vote.John Lamont stood down as parliamentary private secretary in the Foreign Office, saying that he had received thousands of messages from constituents who were “rightly deeply angered” by lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street.At least four of the six Scottish Conservatives in the House of Commons voted to remove Mr Johnson, including Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross and former Scotland secretary David Mundell.Andrew Woodcock reports.Joe Middleton7 June 2022 00:151654554590Tory MPs demand cabinet cull after deeply wounded Boris Johnson scrapes through confidence voteBoris Johnson is facing demands for a wholesale cull of his cabinet after scraping through a vote of no confidence in his leadership by 211 votes to 148.The PM’s victory in the ballot of Tory MPs spared him the humiliation of ejection from 10 Downing Street by his own party, but left him deeply wounded as he faces two by-elections later this month and a general election less than two years away.The tally of 41.2 per cent of Tory MPs opposing the leader was far worse than expected by Mr Johnson’s allies and significantly higher than the 36.9 per cent voting no confidence in Theresa May six months before she was forced from office.Kate Devlin, Andrew Woodcock, Rob Merrick and Anna Isaac have the details.Joe Middleton6 June 2022 23:291654553702Confidence vote result ‘worst of all worlds for the Tories’, claims SturgeonScotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the confidence vote result of Boris Johnson’s leadership is the “worst of all worlds for the Tories.She added that it “saddles the UK with an utterly lame duck PM” and added that for Scotland “it just underlines the democratic deficit” with just 2 of 59 MPs having confidence in Mr Johnson.Joe Middleton6 June 2022 23:151654553421‘Major reshuffle’ coming and PM should promote Red Wall intake, says MPCamilla Turner, chief political correspondent at The Daily Telegraph, is reporting that an MP thinks Boris Johnson will embark on a big reshuffle.The MP said: “The PM needs to get some people from the Red Wall into Number 10. He’s got time to turn it around. He’s got four or five more years now.”Joe Middleton6 June 2022 23:101654553040Tory MP says PM won ‘massive majority’ in confidence voteConservative MP Peter Bone says Boris Johnson won a “massive majority” in the confidence vote on Monday evening.The Tory MP for Wellingborough told the PA: “I was very pleased with the vote today, I supported the Prime Minister, we had to deal with this issue.“The last time there was an election by MPs in the House of Commons on the leadership Boris Johnson only got 51 per cent of Conservative MPs voting for him, he got 60 per cent so he has improved his position relating to MPs.“Obviously, two thirds of the party members voted for him in the subsequent poll and then of course he won a big general election victory so the only people that should be removing the Prime Minister of the Conservative Party is the electorate, and in two years time they will have that chance.“I hope what we have done we will prove to the British public that we deserve another term.“But it is not for a few dissident backbench MPs to try and get rid of the Prime Minister, it is up to the British public and that is what the vote tonight, I mean, what was it? 211 to 148? Massive majority for the Prime Minister.”Joe Middleton6 June 2022 23:041654552443Move over Mystic Meg, there is a new psychic in townEnergy minister Greg Hands shared picture of a Wesminster bus stop that displayed the exact result of the vote of no-confidence won by Boris Johnson on Monday night.In the lighhearted Twitter post, Mr Hands praised the predictive abilities of the Westminster bus stop. He said: “The Parliament Square bus stop had the result long before anyone else did”.Mr Johnson won by a margin of 211 to 148.Joe Middleton6 June 2022 22:54 More

The UK is to boost Ukraine’s fightback against Russian invaders in the eastern Donbas region by supplying highly accurate long-range rocket launchers, defence secretary Ben Wallace has announced.Mr Wallace’s decision to supply the cutting-edge M270 multiple-launch rocket system (MLRS) was co-ordinated with US president Joe Biden’s gift to Ukraine last week of the similar High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).The M270 can strike targets up to 80km away with pinpoint accuracy, said the Ministry of Defence. Today’s announcement follows an appeal from Kyiv for longer-range precision weapons to defend Ukrainian forces against the heavy artillery deployed by Russia to devastating effect in the Donbas.Prime minister Boris Johnson said last month that MLRS weapons were the key to helping Ukraine respond to the “very brutal” artillery assault which has allowed Russia to gain ground in the east of the country over recent weeks.The Ministry of Defence refused to reveal how many M270s would be sent to Ukraine, citing the need to avoid giving Moscow information which might be useful to president Vladimir Putin’s troops.The UK will also be providing M31A1 rockets “at scale”, said a spokesperson.Ukrainian troops will come to the UK for training to use the rocket launcher, which is understood to take several weeks.Mr Wallace said: “The UK stands with Ukraine in this fight and is taking a leading role in supplying its heroic troops with the vital weapons they need to defend their country from unprovoked invasion. If the international community continues its support, I believe Ukraine can win.“As Russia’s tactics change, so must our support to Ukraine. These highly capable multiple-launch rocket systems will enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery, which Putin’s forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities.”The UK was the first European country to supply lethal aid to Ukraine, and has since provided thousands of anti-tank missiles, anti-air systems and armoured vehicles to Ukrainian forces.Mr Putin insisted that the provision of MLRS weapons to Ukraine would not change the course of the war, but may provoke Russia to attack new targets.“We understand that this supply from the United States and some other countries is meant to make up for the losses of this military equipment,” he told state TV channel Rossiya-1.“This is nothing new. It doesn’t change anything in essence.”If the weapons systems are deployed, he said, “we will strike at those targets which we have not yet been hitting.”His comments followed reports of multiple explosions hitting “infrastructure” targets in Kyiv early on Sunday, in the first assault on the Ukrainian capital in several weeks. More

Labour is demanding an investigation into claims that government infighting is delaying a programme to refurbish, extend or build 40 NHS hospitals.Boris Johnson announced plans in 2019 to build “40 new hospitals” by 2030, though it later emerged that many of the plans were in fact only renovations of existing facilities.But NHS bosses have complained that trusts are unable to proceed with the work because they are waiting for sign-off from government ministers, with the Treasury reported to be concerned about spiralling costs.NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor said: “The government launched these flagship new builds with much fanfare, but NHS leaders are becoming increasingly frustrated that the money isn’t following through. The fear now is that some of these schemes may never see the light of day.”The Sunday Times reported that only six projects that predate Mr Johnson’s premiership have so far started construction, and just one – a £35m cancer centre in Cumbria – has been completed.Ten smaller schemes are due to start before September 2024, but eight “pathfinder” schemes that were supposed to be completed no later than 2028 have yet to be given a start date.Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, told the paper: “Trusts are unable to get the shovel in the ground, and they fear being on the receiving end of local reputational damage, because it looks as though they’re unable to manage … The reality is that [they] are ready to push ahead, and are waiting for the green light from the programme.”Now shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has written to the National Audit Office to call for an inquiry into the delays.Mr Streeting said it was “concerning that rows between government ministers are causing delays to the programme to deliver on the government’s commitment to build 40 new hospitals”.And he added: “NHS trusts are still waiting to be allocated funds to begin construction, two and a half years on from the general election. This is despite many of these planned building works only being alterations or refurbishments, not in fact ‘new hospitals’.“I am concerned that unnecessary delays will result in significant waste of taxpayers’ money, given the increase in prices for construction materials in the past year.”Mr Streeting noted that the New Hospitals Programme was reported last year to have been given a “red” rating by the government’s own Infrastructure and Projects Authority, which warned that it “appears to be unachievable”. More