UK Politics

Boris Johnson has fuelled Conservative anger that he is leading them to electoral disaster by rejecting calls to change style, while insisting much of the criticism of him “doesn’t matter”.Senior Tories spoke out after the prime minister mocked the idea of him undergoing a “psychological transformation” to recover from disastrous by-election defeats, saying: “That’s not going to happen.”In a defiant interview to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he instead dismissed leading Conservative figures urging him to quit – including former leaders Michael Howard and William Hague – arguing they have no alternative policies.Mr Johnson refused to accept the Partygate scandal lay behind the defeats and said: “As a leader, you have to try to distinguish between criticism that really matters and the criticism that doesn’t.”Alarmed Tory MPs told The Independent that the comments had underlined the reasons why voters had turned their back on the party in Tiverton & Honiton and in Wakefield last week.Alicia Kearns, a member of the 2019 general election intake, said: “It would be a mistake to dismiss the by-election results, and a greater one to seek to blame MPs who were forced to act in order to uphold our conservative values of integrity and rule of law.“Voters sent a clear message, that their sacrifices were treated with contempt and that they will not vote Conservative while that remains the case.”Bob Neill, the respected chair of the Commons justice committee, said: “The leadership of the Conservative Party is a leasehold, not a freehold. Wise leaders never take that for granted.”One senior Tory summed up the party’s plight as “no change, no chance”, adding: “I am not sure shrugging off valid criticism as not mattering is either sensible or likely to instil confidence in colleagues who are wondering can he now accept his mistakes and change direction.”A second called for cabinet ministers to topple Mr Johnson, because he was putting “his own personal interests and ambitions” ahead of the party and the country.“The Conservative party knows precisely where Boris’s leadership is taking us and it is deeply dispiriting that senior figures are not willing to stand up and be counted,” the former minister said.“When this is all over the party will not forget that those who kept him in power long after his time was up.”And the veteran MP Sir Roger Gale pointed to the prime minister being abroad, saying: “He seems to be in denial and out of touch with the reality of what is going on at home.”With the prime minister abroad for eight days, Tory rebels are plotting to seize control of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers in elections next month – a possible route to unseating Mr Johnson.They would then attempt force a rule change to allow another no-confidence vote by the party’s MPs, lifting the bar preventing another challenge for 12 months, until next June.Another vote could then be held in the autumn if the looming contempt inquiry into whether Mr Johnson lied to parliament over the No 10 parties is damning. Andrew Bridgen, another Johnson-critic, said a number of Tories who backed the prime minister in this month’s no-confidence vote had “buyers’ remorse” and “regret that decision”. The MP called for a fresh vote, telling Sky News: “Changing the rules of the 1922 Committee – or even threatening it – is something Boris Johnson did for Theresa May.”Speaking from Rwanda, the prime minister insisted the public wanted to hear about his policies – not what he is “alleged to have done wrong” – saying: “I want to get on with changing and reforming our systems and economy.”Asked, by the BBC, if he accepted he “personally contributed” to the by-election defeats, he replied only that he must “take responsibility for everything that happens on my watch”. When asked what would make him resign, Mr Johnson pointed to any cabinet decision to “abandon” Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion – while accepting that is highly unlikely. “I would accept that I have lost a very important argument and I would go, but I don’t see that,” he admitted.He did receive the “100 per cent support” of the foreign secretary Liz Truss, who insisted the cabinet still backs the prime minister and that “incumbent governments often lose by-elections”. More

A defiant Boris Johnson has turned on Tory opponents demanding he resign, telling them their criticism “doesn’t matter” and they have no policy ideas.Speaking 24 hours after two disastrous by-election defeats, the prime minister refused to accept he “personally contributed” to them through his lawbreaking behaviour in the Partygate scandal.Mr Johnson also made clear he was not capable of some “sort of psychological transformation” to change his character, saying: “I think our listeners will know that’s not going to happen.”Instead, he dismissed senior Conservative figures calling for him to go – including former leaders Michael Howard and William Hague – arguing they are not putting forward any alternative platform.The prime minister claimed the “only argument of substance” made by any of his critics was “for us to go back into the EU single market”. More

A defiant Boris Johnson has turned on Tory opponents demanding he resign, telling them their criticism “doesn’t matter” and they have no policy ideas.Speaking 24 hours after two disastrous by-election defeats, the prime minister refused to accept he “personally contributed” to them through his lawbreaking behaviour in the Partygate scandal.Mr Johnson also made clear he was not capable of some “sort of psychological transformation” to change his character, saying: “I think our listeners will know that’s not going to happen.”Instead, he dismissed senior Conservative figures calling for him to go – including former leaders Michael Howard and William Hague – arguing they are not putting forward any alternative platform.The prime minister claimed the “only argument of substance” made by any of his critics was “for us to go back into the EU single market”. More

Liz Truss has insisted the cabinet still backs Boris Johnson despite the Tories’ disastrous byelection defeats and has given him her “100 per cent” support.Senior ministers are being urged to threaten to walk out, to bring down the prime minister – after former party leader William Hague told them “that’s what I would do”.But the foreign secretary, asked if Mr Johnson retains the crucial support of his cabinet – while thousands of miles away at a summit in Rwanda – told ITV News: “He does”. Ms Truss, who is certain to be a leadership candidate herself in any contest, told reporters in the African country that she “100 per cent supports the prime minister”.“He’s doing an excellent job and we need to keeping going at this very difficult time for the world,” she said, brushing off the Tiverton and Wakefield defeats as no “predictor” of what will happen at the general election.“The reality is that incumbent governments often lose by-elections and often people want to send a message in a by-election to raise concerns with the government,” Ms Truss said.“But that doesn’t make byelection results the predictor of election outcomes. It hasn’t been the predictor in the past and I don’t believe it will be the predictor of the next general election.”Back in the UK, Tory rebels are plotting to seize control of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers in elections next month – the other possible route to toppling Mr Johnson.They would then attempt to force a rule change to allow another no-confidence vote, lifting the bar preventing another challenge for 12 months, until next June.Another vote could then be held in the autumn if the looming contempt inquiry into whether the prime minister lied to parliament over the No 10 parties is damning.Earlier, a defiant Mr Johnson turned on Conservative opponents who are demanding he resign, telling them their criticism “doesn’t matter” and they have no policy ideas.Speaking in Rwanda, he refused to accept he “personally contributed” to the byelection defeats through his lawbreaking behaviour in the Partygate scandal.And he made clear he will not undergo “sort of psychological transformation” to change his character, saying: “I think our listeners will know that’s not going to happen.”The prime minister claimed the “only argument of substance” made by any of his critics was “for us to go back into the EU single market”.And he told BBC Radio 4: “As a leader you have to try to distinguish between criticism that really matters and the criticism that doesn’t matter.”Mr Johnson also tried to put a positive spin on only 59 per cent of his MPs backing him in this month’s confidence vote, claiming: “I have a renewed mandate from my colleagues and I’m going to continue to deliver.” More

The Conservatives need to lose the next general election to “heal” the party’s bitter divisions under Boris Johnson, Michael Heseltine has suggested.The former deputy prime minister became the second party big-hitter to argue that losing power is now its best option – pointing to the Brexit as “the elephant in the room”.“Brexit is a disaster and every day it becomes more clear that it’s a disaster,” Lord Heseltine said.“There are divisions within the Conservative Party, which frankly – and I don’t like the idea – a lost election might do something to heal.”Speaking to LBC Radio, the peer, who was stripped of the Tory whip by Mr Johnson in 2019 for his pro-EU stance, said the UK badly needed to become “a major respected player” in Europe again.He pointed to the huge problems caused by the hard Brexit deal, including a loss of investment and workers and exclusion from the Horizon science collaboration project.Pointing to the UK’s past influence in Europe, Lord Heseltine said: “The Conservatives have abandoned that with awful economic consequences.”He added: “A million Europeans have gone home. You want to know why we got queues and shortages? That is an important part of it.”The tearing up of the Northern Ireland Protocol and the renewed threat of Scottish independence “all add up to a long term infliction of harm on the British economy,” Lord Heseltine said.The comments come after Chris Patten, the former Tory chairman, called another election victory for his party a “disaster” that would break up the United Kingdom.The Conservatives, under Mr Johnson, is no longer conservative but an English Nationalist party, he warned.Meanwhile, a defiant Mr Johnson turned on Conservative opponents who are demanding he resign, telling them their criticism “doesn’t matter” and they have no policy ideas.Speaking in Rwanda, he refused to accept he “personally contributed” to the byelection defeats through his lawbreaking behaviour in the Partygate scandal.And he made clear he will not undergo “sort of psychological transformation” to change his character, saying: “I think our listeners will know that’s not going to happen.”The prime minister claimed the “only argument of substance” made by any of his critics was “for us to go back into the EU single market”.And he told BBC Radio 4: “As a leader you have to try to distinguish between criticism that really matters and the criticism that doesn’t matter.” More

Boris Johnson has insisted that the response to his government’s controversial plans to override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol was more “muted” than expected.The prime minister made the comment during a visit to Rwanda, while MPs have been preparing to debate the proposed legislation next week.On Monday, the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill will be given its second reading in the Commons and MPs will vote on whether it can proceed for further consideration.The Tory government has argued that the measures to remove checks on goods and animal and plant products travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland are necessary to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement and peace and stability.The European Union has renewed its legal action against the Bill since it was announced.On Tuesday, French Europe minister Clement Beaune said there had been a “serene and confident” discussion between the 27 ministers in Luxembourg in response to “the recent provocative moves from the British government”.“The protocol cannot be renegotiated,” he said.But Mr Johnson said that the “reaction around the table amongst our friends has been much more muted than I think people were expecting”.He added: “That’s because, you know, in the end, we don’t want to fall out over this. We want a solution.”Mr Johnson also played down concerns about the legal challenges against the government over the Bill.“We’ve got a legal case against us for failing to have proper customs procedures, all sorts of things,” he said.Mr Johnson also rejected suggestions, from some leaders in the EU, that the attempt to redefine the protocol was to appease Tory hardliners.“Do you really think that most Conservative MPs or most people in the country are thinking about this problem? They’re not,” he said.“I’m afraid to say that this is an issue that is entirely to do with the balance of the political situation in Northern Ireland. And we have to respect that. This is something that I didn’t want to do. I wanted the protocol to work. I, after all, agreed the thing.”The plans to unilaterally override parts of the protocol – agreed between the UK and the EU – have been working, according to Stormont Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd.He said he had come from a business event with more than 400 delegates and that people there said the dual access to the EU market and the British market is working for them.Efforts to pass the controversial legislation must be stopped, Mr O’Dowd said as he appealed to MPs to vote against the bill.Meanwhile, Unionists are against the imposition of checks between Britain and the north of Ireland.The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refuses to return to the powersharing executive over the issue and has left Northern Ireland without a functioning government.DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he hopes the bill gets through the Commons before Parliament’s summer recess. More

A week ago ministerial allies of Boris Johnson were insisting that losses in the Tiverton and Wakefield by-elections were already “priced in”. The results would not matter, they insisted, because no one expected them to win. It did not quite work out that way.Less than two hours after the scale of the disastrous defeats became apparent, one of Boris Johnson’s most publicly loyal allies, party chairman Oliver Dowden, quit. Shortly afterwards, former Conservative leader Michael Howard became the latest senior Tory to call on the prime minister to resign. And yet still Mr Johnson limps on.Some in the cabinet privately concede that the results mark a shift in the saga which has engulfed the government since Partygate first broke last November. Although no one followed Mr Dowden out the door, cabinet ministers were noticeably quiet or circumspect in their public support for their leader. Within the cabinet, however, there is a feeling that even those keen to replace Mr Johnson will not hasten his exit with their resignation, for fear of being seen to wield the knife.Even for a party with such a distinguished history of political patricide as the Tories, the question of how to get rid of the prime minister is not an easy one. Behind the scenes, however, Tory rebels are becomingly increasingly exasperated with the cabinet’s unwillingness to act.In bad news for the likes of foreign secretary Liz Truss, currently in Rwanda with the prime minister, or Rishi Sunak, whose friends believe he can still mount a leadership bid despite revelations his wife was a non-dom, there is growing resentment against cabinet ministers. One leading rebel said: “The next leader of the Conservative Party needs integrity, courage and to show leadership. That rules out all of the current cabinet.”The attention of many is now focused on securing a change in the rules of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs instead. As these stand, they give Mr Johnson another year before he again faces a confidence vote.There is evidence a second vote could produce a very different result. One former convinced loyalist, with a very large majority, told The Independent he had voted for Mr Johnson two weeks ago but would not do so again.But many rebels believe Tory MPs will not have to cast their ballots for a second time in order to oust their leader. Just the prospect of another confidence vote, triggered by reform of the rules, could be enough to bring Boris Johnson’s political career to a close, they argue. Concentrating minds are the messages they are receiving from their own constituencies. “Tories love winning more than anything,” said the head of a local Conservative association in southwest England. “That’s why we loved Boris.” Their use of the past tense was no accident, they added. More

Boris Johnson’s hold on the premiership is tonight in peril, amid signs that support for his leadership within the Conservative Party is ebbing away in the wake of a pair of disastrous by-election defeats.As Labour seized back the totemic red-wall seat of Wakefield and Liberal Democrats overturned a record by-election majority to take “true blue” Tiverton & Honiton in Devon, one MP who backed Mr Johnson in a confidence vote less than three weeks ago told The Independent that he and others could no longer support the prime minister.Tory chair Oliver Dowden quit, citing the “distress and disappointment” of party members over the Partygate scandal and saying: “Someone must take responsibility.”And former leader Michael Howard suggested that other ministers should now follow him out of the cabinet as he became the latest grandee to call for the prime minister to go.Mr Johnson himself insisted he would not “crumple”, and Downing Street dismissed calls for him to return to London from a nine-day trip abroad, taking in summits of the Commonwealth, G7 and Nato, to steady his restive party.Veteran MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown was among those calling on the PM to “come home” and outline how to “resolve the really serious situation the country is in”.The calls came as one cabinet minister told The Independent that “the mood has shifted” following the double defeats, with indications that would-be successors to Mr Johnson were making steps towards more solid leadership campaigns.One senior backbencher told The Independent: “I voted for Boris last time but I just can’t see any way out of it for him right now.“It is now a question of when, not if. The public have made up their minds. We got it wrong in hanging on to John Major in the Nineties and we can’t get it wrong a second time with Johnson.“He’s not helping himself with the message he has sent out after the results, saying he is staying on.“It sounds like he is saying, ‘I’m putting myself first and clinging on as long as possible’. That will make a lot of his supporters think, ‘I came into politics to serve the country and the party, not to serve you’.”Rebel Tories were preparing for a battle to claim a majority on the influential 1922 Committee, which holds the power to change party rules and bring forward a second vote on Mr Johnson’s future.Andrew Bridgen told The Independent he will stand in next month’s elections to the committee’s 18-member executive on a platform of scrapping a rule that requires a 12-month gap between confidence votes. Other MPs said they expect a Downing Street bid to pack the executive with loyalists to stave off a new challenge.Potential contenders in any leadership battle are believed to be hoping that Mr Johnson’s removal can be achieved through a vote staged by the backbench committee, in order to avoid them dashing their prospects by being seen as “the one who wields the knife”.But Johnson critics saw a visit from “the men in grey suits” as a more likely outcome, with one telling The Independent that many of the 211 MPs who backed the PM in the 6 June confidence vote had already factored in the by-election disasters.“The ’22 executive will tell him to move on or the cabinet will tell him to move on or the chief whip will tell him to move on,” said one. “If that doesn’t happen, there’ll be another vote, but either way he’ll be gone by the end of the year.”A current member of the executive confirmed that there was nothing in the rules to prevent an MP from standing on a mandate to change them.But some rebels believe this will not be necessary, as chair Sir Graham Brady would be forced to act if it becomes obvious that the majority of MPs want change.One senior MP who has previously submitted a letter of no confidence in Johnson told The Independent: “The prime minister has lost the trust of the country and it appears he is neither a winner in the red wall or the blue wall. Of course he should resign. He is dragging everybody down by lingering on.“But I have no expectation that he will. I don’t think we have long to wait until he is forced out, but that is in the hands of the ’22.“Further cabinet resignations would help, but I don’t think any of them will do it. They have either drunk the Kool-Aid or taken the 30 pieces of silver.”Lib Dems celebrate by-election by unveiling door aimed at Boris to resignAll eyes in Westminster were on Mr Dowden, to see whether the former culture secretary aligns himself with any potential candidate for succession. He is close to chancellor Rishi Sunak, who was quick to tweet his sadness at seeing him leave.A jubilant Keir Starmer said that Labour’s recapture of Wakefield by a margin of 4,925, overturning a Tory majority of 3,358 from the 2019 election, showed that the country has “lost confidence in the Tories” and that his party was “ready for government”.And Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said his party’s remarkable victory in Tiverton – converting a 24,239 Tory lead into a majority of 6,144 for Lib Dem Richard Foord on a 29.9 per cent swing – amounted to a message from the people of Britain to the PM that “it really is time he left”.The third Lib Dem incursion deep into traditional Tory territory, following by-election triumphs in Chesham & Amersham and North Shropshire, sent shivers down the spines of many Conservative MPs whose safe seats now look vulnerable. The east Devon constituency was the Conservatives’ 40th-safest seat, and 284 of the party’s MPs have smaller majorities.Mr Johnson’s appearance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda was completely overshadowed by the electoral meltdown at home.He took solace, at a press conference in the capital Kigali, from his own by-election triumph in Hartlepool in May 2021, telling reporters: “I’m not going to pretend that these are brilliant results. We’ve got to listen, we’ve got to learn.“But it wasn’t that long ago – only just over a year ago – that we won a spectacular by-election victory.“When people are finding it tough, they send messages to politicians and politicians have got to respond, and that’s what we’re doing.”But just hours after the PM insisted he would “keep going”, his position was brutally undermined by Lord Howard, who broke his silence on the leadership question to call for him to go.“The party, and more importantly the country, would be better off under new leadership,” the former leader told the BBC, adding: “Members of the cabinet should very carefully consider their positions.”Public shows of support for the prime minister from senior colleagues were thin on the ground.Loyalist Nadine Dorries brushed aside the significance of the by-elections, saying that Margaret Thatcher had suffered similar setbacks before going on to victory in the 1980s. And attorney general Suella Braverman ascribed the mid-term defeats to “a dishonest electoral pact” between Lib Dems and Labour.But Mr Johnson’s former Brexit supremo Lord Frost, a highly influential figure on the right of the party, said it was “a terrible night and we will lose if we don’t change things”.And the leader of the Tories in Wales, Andrew RT Davies, said it must be getting “more challenging” for the PM to convince himself that he can deliver for those who put him in office.Former justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland, who continues to back Mr Johnson’s leadership, said he has told the PM personally that he must “look in the mirror and do better” and the Conservative Party is “about more than one man”. More