UK Politics

Some Conservative lawmakers in Britain are talking about ousting their leader, Prime Minister Boris Johnson who has been tarnished by allegations that he and his staff held lockdown-breaching parties during the coronavirus pandemic.If Johnson does not heed calls to resign — and he insists he won’t — he could be toppled through a no-confidence vote.Here’s how the Conservative Party goes about challenging and changing leaders.THE NO-CONFIDENCE VOTEA no-confidence vote in the party leader is triggered if 15% of Conservative lawmakers — currently 54 — write a letter to Graham Brady head of a powerful group of Conservative legislators known as the 1922 Committee. It is called that because it was founded by lawmakers first elected that year to consolidate their power inside the party.Letters can be delivered in person, by post or by email, and no one but Brady knows how many letters he has already received.If Brady receives 54 letters, he will call a no-confidence vote, to be held within hours or days, in which all 359 Tory legislators can cast secret ballots. Johnson would need 180 votes to win. If he gets that many votes, there could not be another challenge for a year.If Johnson loses, he would resign and a party leadership contest would be held in which he would be barred from running. He would remain party leader and prime minister until a replacement is chosen.THE LEADERSHIP CONTESTConservative leadership contests have two stages. In the first stage, Conservative lawmakers hold an initial vote on all the candidates. The candidate with lowest number of votes drops out, and voting continues until there are two contenders left.If there are only two candidates, they proceed to the second stage. In that part, the final two candidates are put to a vote of the full party membership across the country.In the last leadership contest in 2019, a field of 10 candidates was whittled down to Johnson and former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Johnson won handily with about two-thirds of postal votes cast by party members.The winner of the vote becomes Conservative Party leader and prime minister, without the need for a national election.THE CONTENDERSAny Conservative legislator is eligible to run to replace Johnson as party leader. The two names most often mentioned are Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, both senior ministers with strong followings in the party.Other possible contenders include Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab who ran against Johnson last time; Cabinet Minister Michael Gove, one of the most powerful members of Johnson’s government; Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who leads the country’s coronavirus response; and Hunt, who has said he hasn’t abandoned hope of becoming prime minister one day. More

The Conservative Party is at risk of “dying a death of 1,000 cuts” if MPs do not move to oust Boris Johnson as prime minister, a senior Tory said.David Davis is warning his fellow Tory MPs that they will be in for a “year of agony” if they act too slow and a vote of no confidence is triggered as late as December this year, a scenario he described as “the worst outcome” for the party.The former Brexit secretary caused a stir on Wednesday when he told Mr Johnson in the House of Commons to “in the name of God, go” amid the continuing fallout from the allegations of Downing Street hosting lockdown law-breaching parties.His call on the PM to quit happened just after Bury South MP Christian Wakeford defected to Labour, moments before Mr Johnson was to face Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions.In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mr Davis said: “The party is going to have to make a decision or we face dying a death of 1,000 cuts.”The prime minister will appear to be “shifting the blame” if he fires staff after senior civil servant Sue Gray delivers her inquiry into events held at No 10 during Covid restrictions, the Haltemprice and Howden MP said.Then there will be the “crises” of rising energy bills and the National Insurance hike being compounded by the “disorganisation” at No 10, which all could trigger a vote of no confidence no sooner than Christmas, he continued.“That’s the worst outcome, particularly for the 2019 and 2017 and 2015 intake – that, slice by slice by slice, this carries on and we bump along at minus whatever and, even worse, we create policies to try to paper over it.”During a chaotic commons session – before his interview was published – Mr Davis said he had spent weeks defending Mr Johnson from angry constituents, including by reminding them of the “successes of Brexit”.He added: “I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take.“Yesterday, he did the opposite of that so I will remind him of a quotation which may be familiar to his ear – Leopold Amery to Neville Chamberlain: ‘You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. In the name of God, go.’”Seven Tory MPs have publicly called for Mr Johnson to go, far short of the 54 required to submit letters of no confidence to the backbench 1922 Committee. Andrew Bridgen, one of the seven, told the PA news agency he expected 20 more letters to go to 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady from 2019-intake MPs on Wednesday.The current number would have been eight but Mr Wakeford’s defection means the tally is unchanged.Mr Wakeford, one of the 2019 cohort of red wall Tory MPs, who has a majority of just 402 votes, said he had been in talks with Sir Keir’s party for months about joining.He said the Conservatives are trying to “defend the indefensible” regarding Mr Johnson’s leadership, and he accused the PM of being “incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves”.The 37-year-old is the first Tory MP in 15 years to switch to Labour. A number of other red wall MPs – rumoured to be five, according to a Labour MP “source” – are considering following in his footsteps, it has been reported by the i and Telegraph.No 10 said Mr Johnson will fight any no-confidence vote launched against him, and insisted that he expects to fight the next general election.Mr Johnson’s press secretary said he would have further meetings with MPs as he attempted to claw back support from the disillusioned among them.In the Commons, Mr Johnson apologised again for the Partygate saga which threatens to be the death knell for his time as prime minister. But he said it was for senior civil servant Sue Gray’s inquiry “to come forward with an explanation of what happened”, as he indicated the report would be published next week.The May 20 event is one of many subject to Ms Gray’s inquiry, and Tory MPs were urged by ministers to wait for her report before deciding whether to move against the prime minister.During PMQs, Sir Keir accused Tory MPs of having “brought their own boos” to Parliament, in reference to the “bring your own booze” party in Downing Street in May 2020 that Mr Johnson has admitted he attended.The prime minister’s official spokesman said he did not have access to Mr Johnson’s diary for the day of the event, which could be crucial to showing whether Mr Johnson knew about it in advance – something he has denied.The spokesman said the PM would usually get a “run-through of his day” in a morning meeting, but added he could not say what would have been discussed “on that particular date”.The PM has insisted “nobody told me that what we were doing was against the rules” and he believed he was attending a work event.But former aide Dominic Cummings alleged Mr Johnson was aware of the event in advance and was warned it broke the rules in place at the time.And the PM’s press secretary could not point to where a work event would have been permitted under the rules. More

A Tory MP has been suspended from the House of Commons for one day after undermining an apology he gave for bullying staff.Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, apologised to the Commons on Wednesday as MPs approved the recommended punishment for him.He will not be allowed to sit in the chamber on Thursday.Mr Kawczynski was made to apologise in June for a breach of Parliament’s bullying rules following a complaint by Commons staff. The Commons Standards Committee recommmended he be suspended after he gave media interviews that appeared to call into doubt the sincerity of that apology.On 14 June 2021, the same day he apologised, he told an interviewer from BBC Radio Shropshire: “I have no alternative but to apologise because if I don’t apologise then I risk the option of being sanctioned further.”An investigation by Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Kathryn Stone found he also breached confidentiality rules by identifying the complainants through their job titles.The standards committee said Mr Kawczynski’s conduct was particularly serious as it risked undermining the credibility of the independent complaints and grievances scheme for Commons staff which has only recently been established.Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Kawczynski acknowledged he had “undermined the sincerity” of his earlier apology and said he accepted this had a “detrimental effect” on the Commons conduct policy and complaints process.He said: “I’m sorry that my conduct will have had a further harmful effect on the complainants and that it may have diminished public confidence in the process.”I will be sending a written apology to the parliamentary commissioner for standards, the chair of the Independent Expert Panel, and the original complainants.“Mr Kawczynski said the bullying incident occured at a time when he was struggling with his mental health due to a family trauma and work-related problems. He said he appreciated that the committee had taken this into account in their ruling and that he was aware his behaviour could have warranted a longer suspension.He told MPs: ”I am committed to learning from the mistakes I have made and to work on my personal development, especially in my communication with others in every interaction that I have. “I hope others will learn from my experience and I’d be happy to share what I have learnt with others.”Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire, shadow leader of the Commons, said: “It appeared to me that his apology was genuine and sincere.”She added: “I wish the honourable gentleman well in his process of change.” More

Boris Johnson is engaged in a desperate fightback to save his political life, after a ferocious attack from one of the Conservatives’ most senior former ministers and the defection of one of its newest MPs failed to fell him. In remarkable scenes in the House of Commons, the former cabinet minister David Davis stunned MPs with a call to the prime minister to “in the name of God, go”.Labour celebrated as Red Wall MP Christian Wakeford from Bury South crossed the floor, branding the prime minister “disgraceful” for his handling of allegations of lockdown-busting parties in 10 Downing Street.And representatives of families bereaved by coronavirus accused Mr Johnson of “removing public health protections in the hope of saving his own skin”, as he announced that plan B restrictions will be scrapped in England from 27 January.But the dramatic interventions did not trigger the flood of letters from MPs needed to force a confidence vote in Mr Johnson. While up to 20 discontented Tories were understood to have submitted letters to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, none broke cover to declare their positions publicly.Senior Tories told The Independent that the developments may have helped shore up Mr Johnson’s position at least until the publication of Whitehall mandarin Sue Gray’s report into “partygate” – now expected next week – as wavering MPs think twice about appearing disloyal. There was speculation that even if Sir Graham receives the necessary 54 letters in the coming days, he may delay a vote until the report is published in order to ensure MPs have the information they need.But a member of the group of younger MPs who arrived in parliament in 2019 urged colleagues not to wait to submit their letters.“You have to make a change as soon as you can,” the Tory MP told The Independent. “I don’t think colleagues should think of the Sue Gray report should be the answer, the silver bullet. You don’t need Sue Gray to tell you what a party is. “I’ve made my mind up. My constituents have made their mind up and are crying out for a change.”One former cabinet member said Mr Davis’s assault on the PM was “courageous, principled and right”. And a backbench Tory made clear he had no faith in Johnson’s claim not to have realised that a drinks event in the No 10 garden was a party, telling The Independent: “It’s like going to a brothel and claiming you didn’t realise that the women there are selling themselves for sex.”But friends of the former Brexit secretary said that his strike against the PM was not co-ordinated with like-minded MPs, including some who had spoken to Mr Davis within the last few days and had no inkling of what he was planning.Meanwhile, there was vitriol directed at Mr Wakeford from some of the other members of the 2019 group, who sought to distance themselves from the so-called pork pie plot to oust Johnson. Ashfield’s Lee Anderson branded the defector “Wokeford” and telling GB News: “Good riddance to bad rubbish.”Mr Johnson came under ferocious assault from Labour in a stormy session of prime minister’s questions a day after an interview in which he claimed not to have been told that the rose garden party he attended on 20 May 2020 was against Covid rules.With his new MP sitting on the Labour benches behind him, Sir Keir Starmer denounced him as “out of touch, out of control, out of ideas and soon to be out of office”.But the PM appeared buoyed by loud cheering from the Tory benches, which were packed with vocal supporters just a week after Conservative MPs watched a forlorn Johnson apologise in gloomy silence. Reeling off lists of achievements which he said his administration had delivered, he said those challenging him about parties were “wasting people’s time”.Just as it seemed Mr Johnson may have won a stay of execution with his combative rejection of opposition calls for his resignation, Mr Davis caught the eye of Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and rose to deliver what he clearly hoped would be a fatal blow.Unleashing a quote first used by Oliver Cromwell to dismiss quarrelling parliamentarians and later deployed to despatch Neville Chamberlain during the darkest days of the Second World War, Mr Davis told his former Brexit comrade: “You have sat there too long for all the good you have done. In the name of God, go.”The long-serving MP later said he had been prompted to act by Mr Johnson’s TV interview on Tuesday.“I have been supporting him up to now,” said Mr Davis. “I voted for him (as leader) but I expect leadership. Leadership means shouldering responsibility even when it is blame and he didn’t do it.”Downing Street soon afterwards declared that Mr Johnson will fight any confidence vote, and intends to remain in place to lead Tories into the next general election, expected in 2023 or 2024.His press secretary confirmed he was meeting a string of Tory MPs for private talks in a bid to shore up support, but insisted that he was doing so by focusing on his record of delivering Brexit, investing in the country and handling the Covid pandemic.And supportive MPs were sent out to defend Johnson, with Andrew Rosindell saying the public want him to “get on and do the job”. Health secretary Sajid Javid told a Downing Street press conference he was backing the PM, whose leadership he said had been “vindicated” by the retreat of the Omicron variant of Covid and the lifting of plan B restrictions.And leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed Mr Davis as a “lone wolf”, telling Channel 4 News: “No one would call David a lightweight, he’s a very serious political figure, but his comments today were too theatrical.”One former minister told The Independent: “Paradoxically, today’s events may have been a blessing in disguise for Boris. People are fixating on the 54 letters, but my feeling is that even if they arrive he could still survive the vote, because there isn’t a stand-out candidate to replace him.”To remove Johnson from the Tory leadership, more than half of the parliamentary party – some 180 MPs – would have to vote against him in a confidence vote. After Wednesday’s display of support in the Commons, allies were confident that this is a hurdle he can surmount, as his predecessor Theresa May did in 2018.But a former ally said that the mere fact of vote being called would be fatal for him in the longer run.“It will be just a matter of time before he goes,” the MP told The Independent. “That is the lesson of what happened to Theresa May, to John Major and to Margaret Thatcher.” More

In an effort to maximise the political damage on Boris Johnson, Christian Wakeford, a member of the 2019 intake of Conservative MPs, made public his dramatic decision to defect to Labour – just over 10 minutes before prime minister’s questions.With the prime minister already facing the threat of a no-confidence vote, the 37-year-old added to his growing in-tray of problems, becoming the first MP to defect from the Tory party to Labour since 2007, when Quentin Davies crossed the floor of the Commons.The Bury South MP – previously critical of the “indefensible” reports of parties in No 10 during Covid restrictions – had been in conversations with Labour for some months over the move and first met with Sir Keir Starmer on Monday.In a letter to the prime minister on Wednesday, the former councillor and ‘red wall’ MP hit out at Boris Johnson’s “disgraceful” conduct in recent weeks and claimed the Conservatives were “incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves”.The evening before defecting to Labour, he made clear his feelings about the prime minister, as he revealed he had submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson to the chair of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs, Sir Graham Brady.His name also featured in newspaper reports in November 2021, after he was said to have called the disgraced Conservative Owen Paterson a “c***” to his face during a botched vote in Parliament to protect the former MP from a 30-day suspension. More

Any no-confidence vote to topple Boris Johnson will be delayed until after Sue Gray’s report into the ‘partygate’ scandal, The Independent has been told.More letters have been submitted by Tory MPs demanding the vote – which was held within 24 hours when the threshold was reached to trigger the contest against Theresa May, in 2018.But senior Conservatives say Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, will not arrange the vote until after the Gray report, one saying that would make “no sense”.Another suggested Sir Graham – a critic of Mr Johnson – would also want to delay until after the verdict has been delivered, to increase the chances of him losing and being forced out.“It would not make any sense to hold the vote until after Sue Gray has reported,” said one Tory MP close to discussions about the timing of any vote.“There is nothing in the rules to say that a confidence vote must be held immediately after the threshold for signatures is reached.“After the inquiry, some MPs may wish to withdraw their letters – as well as others who might submit them, depending on what her report says about the prime minister.”One former minister said: “Graham will want to delay the vote, because he wants to be a minister – and he knows that won’t happen while Boris Johnson is prime minister.”Only Sir Graham knows whether the number of letters demanding a no-confidence vote is close to the tally of 54 – 15 per cent of the parliamentary party – required for it to happen.The rebels’ momentum has slowed with the shock defection of Christian Wakeford to Labour, a display of disloyalty which has provoked waverers to “rally round”.Most Conservative MPs have said they want to wait for Ms Gray’s report – which Mr Johnson told MPs would not be completed until “next week”.The senior civil servant had been expected to finish her work before the end of this week – but her task has grown with further allegations about lockdown-busting events.Some Tories report that anger at Mr Johnson and the parties is not on the scale of the backlash against the revelation of Dominic Cummings’ lockdown-busting drive around County Durham, last year.But others say it is impossible to defend the prime minister’s explanation that he attended the party on 20 May, 2020 – but did not realise a party was taking place.“It is like walking into Buchenwald and not realising it is a concentration camp, but thinking it is a prison,” one Tory MP said.“It is like going to a brothel and claiming you didn’t realise that the women there are selling themselves for sex.”Another former Johnson ally said a no-confidence vote would be fatal for him eventually – even if he survived the vote itself.“It will be just a matter of time before he goes. That is the lesson of what happened to Theresa May, to John Major and to Margaret Thatcher,” the MP said. More