UK Politics

The Conservative Red Wall MP Christian Wakeford has defected to the Labour Party, in a major blow to Boris Johnson just moments before prime minister’s questions.As the prime minister faces the escalating threat of a leadership challenge over allegations of rule-breaking parties in No 10, Sir Keir Starmer welcomed the Bury South MP into Labour’s ranks.Just yesterday, the former Tory MP submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson to the chair of the 1922 committee, Sir Graham Brady, amid wider discontent on the Conservative benches.In correspondence with the prime minister on Wednesday, Mr Wakeford revealed his decision to quit the party altogether, saying: “My decision is about much more than your leadership and the disgraceful way you have conducted yourself in recent weeks”.In a coup for the Labour leader – announced just over 10 minutes before prime minister’s questions – Sir Keir welcomed Mr Wakeford to Labour, insisting “he has always put the people of Bury South first”.“As Christian said, the policies of the Conservative government are doing nothing to help the people of Bury South and indeed are only making the struggles they face on a daily basis worse.”He added: “I’m determined to build a new Britain which guarantees security, prosperity and respect for all and I’m delighted that Christian has decided to join us in this endeavour.”The move, however, means Mr Wakeford’s letter of no confidence will not be counted towards the threshold needed to trigger a vote on Mr Johnson’s leadership within the Tory party.In a letter to Mr Johnson, the Bury South MP, who was first elected in 2019 in the constituency that had elected Labour politicians since 1997, said the country needed “a government that upholds the highest standards of integrity and probity in public life”.However, he went on: “Sadly both you and the Conservative Party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves.”Mr Wakeford, who said he had “wrestled with my conscience” for months over the decision, went on: “I can no longer support a government that has shown itself consistently out of touch with the hard working people of Bury South and the country as a whole.“Under Keir Starmer, the Labour Party is back firmly in the centre of British politics, in touch with working people, and ready to provide an alternative government that this country can be proud of, and not embarrassed by.“My decision is about much more than your leadership and the disgraceful way you have conducted yourself in recent weeks. “However, I don’t believe all politicians are the same and I do believe in the power of politics to be a force for good. So does Keir Starmer. He has shown that integrity in the way he has led his party on issues that matter to me, not least the vital challenge of combatting antisemitism.“I will always put the people of Bury South first and will continue to speak out for the changes the area needs. Changes that can only be delivered by a Labour government with Keir Starmer.”But the move was not welcomed in all wings of the party, with the affiliated Young Labour organisation saying Mr Wakeford had “consistently voted against the interests of working-class; for the £20 universal credit cut, for the Nationality and Borders Bill and for the Police and Crime Bill.Insisting Young Labour “does not welcome him”, they also urged the party to “uphold Bury south members’ right to choose their own Labour candidate and constituents should be able to reassess their MP”.Also citing his voting record, the left-wing campaign group, Momentum, which was set up to support the policies put forward during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, suggested Mr Wakeford should be “nowhere near the Labour Party”.“The decision by Starmer to accept him is an insult to the millions of working people who want to see a fairer country,” they added.“Wakeford should be booted out of Labour and a by-election called immediately. Labour must back a candidate that will stand up for the people of Bury South and against this Tory Government.”Facing the news of the defection at prime minister’s questions amid cheers on the Labour benchers, Mr Johnson said: “As for Bury South, let me say to him, the Conservative Party won Bury South for the first time in a generation under this prime minister on an agenda of of uniting and levelling up and delivering for the people of Bury South.”“We will win again in Bury South,” he added. More

Conservative MP Christian Wakeford branded Boris Johnson’s behaviour “disgraceful” and took a swipe at the prime minister’s integrity as he defected to Labour.Citing the cost of living crisis and the Tories’ “standards of integrity and probity in public life”, Mr Wakeford said the government had shown itself consistently out of touch.And he praised Keir Starmer’s leadership. His letter in full read:Dear Prime Minister,I am writing to inform you of my decision to resign from the Conservative Party and apply to join the Labour Party.From today I will be sitting as the Labour MP for Bury South because I have reached the conclusion that the best interests of my constituents are served by the programme put forward by Keir Starmer and his party.I care passionately about the people of Bury South and I have concluded that the policies of the Conservative government that you lead are doing nothing to help the people of my constituency and indeed are only making the struggles they face on a daily basis worse.Britain needs a government focused on tackling the cost of living crisis and providing a path out of the pandemic that protects living standards and defends the security of all. It needs a government that upholds the highest standards of integrity and probity in public life and sadly both you and the Conservative Party as a whole have shown themselves incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves.Being elected as MP for Bury South was the proudest day of my life. I care passionately about the area and will always be grateful to those who have supported me. Today, however, I am in no doubt that they will be better served by my joining a party that genuinely has their interests at heart.I have wrestled with my conscience for many months, and you will know that I have made my policy misgivings clear on many occasions in private and sometimes in public. I can no longer support a government that has shown itself consistently out of touch with the hard working people of Bury South and the country as a whole.Under Keir Starmer, the Labour Party is back firmly in the centre of British politics, in touch with working people, and ready to provide an alternative government that this country can be proud of, and not embarrassed by.My decision is about much more than your leadership and the disgraceful way you have conducted yourself in recent weeks. However, I don’t believe all politicians are the same, and I do believe in the power of politics to be a force for good. So does Keir Starmer. He has shown that integrity in the way he has led his party on issues that matter to me, not least the vital challenge of combatting antisemitism.I will always put the people of Bury South first and will continue to speak out for the changes the area needs. Changes that can only be delivered by a Labour government with Keir Starmer.Yours,Christian Wakeford More

Boris Johnson has said further questions about the partygate scandal are “wasting people’s time” as he floundered to respond to a grilling by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.The prime minister refused to say when become aware that any of his staff had concerns about the drinks party in the Downing Street garden during lockdown.Sir Keir told Mr Johnson that “nobody believes” the PM’s claim he wasn’t “told” it was against the rules for him to attend the No 10 gathering on 20 May 2020.The Labour leader asked when he first became aware that any of his staff had “concerns” – but Mr Johnson said: “It is for the inquiry to come forward with an explanation of what happened”.Mr Johnson said Sir Keir was “continuing to ask a series of questions which he knows will be fully by the inquiry” adding: “He is wasting this House’s time – he is wasting the people’s time.”Sir Keir said it was “extraordinary” for Mr Johnson to wait for the investigating civil servant Sue Gray to tell him what happened.He added that it was “ridiculous” for the PM to claim he did not know he was at a party while “wading through the empty bottles and platters of sandwiches”.Referring to Mr Johnson’s apology to the Queen for leaving drinks at No 10 the night before Prince Philip’s funeral, the Labour leader said: “Isn’t he ashamed that he didn’t hand in his resignation at the same time?”The Labour leader began PMQs by “warmly welcoming” to the opposition benches the MP for Bury South Christian Wakeford – who defected from the Tories to Labour just moments before the Commons clash.Mr Johnson responded to the defection blow: “We will win again in Bury South at the next election under this prime minister.”In a dramatic intervention in the Commons, the senior Conservative MP David Davis called on Mr Johnson to quit – quoting MP Leo Amery telling Neville Chamberlain and saying: “In the name of God, go.”When Sir Edward Leigh urged him to stay on, Mr Johnson replied: “I haven’t sat here quite long enough, indeed nothing like long enough, in my view.”SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford told the Commons: “This week was supposed to be ‘operation save big dog’ but it’s quickly become ‘operation dog’s dinner’.”It comes as reports indicate that around 12 MPs from the party’s 2019 election intake sent letters of no-confidence to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady on Wednesday morning.A significant group of Tories who won their seats in Mr Johnson’s 2019 election landslide appear to have lost faith in the PM, after he admitted attending a “bring your own booze” event in the Downing Street garden during lockdown of May 2020.Dubbed the “pork pie plot”, a group of around 20 MPs who won their seats in so-called red wall constituencies at the last election are understood to have met on Tuesday to discuss Mr Johnson’s potential downfall.A no-confidence vote in Mr Johnson is now a matter of “when” rather than “if” after a dramatic shift in mindset among Conservative backbenchers, former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has said. More

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a grilling from opponents in Parliament on Wednesday — and a more worrying threat from his own party’s restive lawmakers, dozens of whom are plotting to oust him over a string of lockdown-flouting government parties.Conservative legislators are judging whether to trigger a no-confidence vote in Johnson amid public anger over the “partygate” scandal. It’s a stunning reversal of fortune for a politician who just over two years ago led the Conservatives to their biggest election victory in almost 40 years.Johnson and loyal ministers were using a mix of pressure and promises in an effort to bring rebels back into line before they submit letters to a party committee calling for a vote of no confidence.Under Conservative Party rules, a no-confidence vote in the party’s leader can be triggered if 54 party lawmakers write letters to a party official demanding it. So far only a handful of Conservative members of Parliament have openly called for Johnson to quit, though several dozen are believed to have submitted letters, including some legislators elected as part of a Johnson-led landslide in December 2019.Conservative lawmaker Andrew Bridgen who is calling for a change of leader, said he thought the 54-letter threshold would be reached “this week,” setting the stage for a confidence vote within days.If Johnson lost a confidence vote among the party’s 360 lawmakers, it would trigger a contest to replace him as Conservative leader. The winner would also become prime minister.The weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons on Wednesday comes a week after Johnson apologized to lawmakers for attending a “bring your own booze” gathering in garden of his Downing Street offices in May 2020. At the time, people in Britain were barred from meeting more than one person outside their household to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Johnson said he had considered the party a work gathering that fell within the rules.“I’m absolutely categorical, nobody said to me, ‘This is an event that is against the rules,’” Johnson said Tuesday.Senior civil servant Sue Gray is investigating claims that government staff held late-night soirees, boozy parties and “wine time Fridays” while Britain was under coronavirus restrictions in 2020 and 2021. The allegations have spawned public anger, incredulity and mockery as well as prompted a growing number of Conservatives to call for Johnson’s resignation.Gray’s report is expected to be published by the end of the month.Johnson’s apologies — in which he acknowledged “misjudgments” but did not personal rule-breaking — appear to have weakened, rather than strengthened, his position in the party.He has urged his opponents to wait for Gray’s verdict, though experts say there is a good chance the investigation will neither exonerate him nor conclude the prime minister broke the law.Even lawmakers who have backed Johnson say he would have to resign if he is found to have lied.Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said members of the public were “absolutely furious.”“I am angry, too,” Heappey told Times Radio, but added that “the prime minister has stood up at the despatch box and set out his version of events and apologized profusely to the British public.”“I choose to believe what the prime minister has said. But I know that that’s not good enough for many of my constituent,” he said. More

The leader of Hungary’s political opposition said Wednesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 amid a surge in cases fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant.Peter Marki-Zay, an independent conservative who will represent a six-party opposition coalition in the parliamentary election in April, said on his Facebook page that he had received a positive test after exhibiting mild COVID-19 symptoms following a television appearance Tuesday evening. “I have canceled all external programs, gone into quarantine and am continuing to work from home, working for a change of government,” Marki-Zay wrote, adding that he has received three vaccine doses. Omicron is less likely to cause severe illness than the previous delta variant, according to studies. Omicron spreads even more easily than other coronavirus strains, and has already become dominant in many countries. It also more easily infects those who have been vaccinated or had previously been infected by prior versions of the virus.Marki-Zay’s announcement came on the same day that Hungary reported the highest number of daily cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, part of an exponential surge in the Central European country likely caused by omicron.According to the government’s official coronavirus website, 14,890 new cases were detected on Wednesday, nearly double the figure from a week earlier and outpacing the previous high set in November by more than 2,000 cases. Last week, the private laboratory that first identified the variant in Hungary, Neumann Labs, told news site Telex that 90% of positive COVID-19 samples it takes are caused by omicron. The true number of infections in Hungary in likely much higher than reported figures. Nearly 58% of COVID-19 tests registered by the government on Wednesday were positive, far higher than the 5% or lower recommended by the World Health Organization.Marki-Zay’s diagnosis will interrupt a tour of the country as he campaigns before the April 3 election, in which he will represent six opposition parties as their joint prime ministerial candidate to face off against right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Orban’s government in recent months has relied on boosting vaccination rates to defend against the pandemic rather than imposing mitigating measures. Last week, it announced it would reduce the length of required quarantine from 10 to seven days, and allow a five-day quarantine for asymptomatic people who receive a negative COVID-19 test. As of Wednesday, 40,686 people have died of COVID-19-related causes in Hungary, while 61.4% of Hungarians have received at least two vaccine doses, below the European Union average of 69.1%, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.___Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic More

A no-confidence vote in Boris Johnson is now a matter of “when” rather than “if” after a dramatic shift in mindset among Conservative backbenchers, former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson has said.The Tory peer’s remarks come as reports indicate that around 12 MPs from the party’s 2019 election intake sent letters of no-confidence to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady on Wednesday morning.Meanwhile a new poll found that the Tories would currently lose all but three of 45 so-called red wall seats if a survey results were repeated at a general election.“They’ve moved their mindset now from if to when,” Baroness Davidson told Times Radio on the mood among Tory MPs. “And there’s been a really big change over the weekend.”She added: “Over the weekend, MPs have gone home and I’ve seen that have been accosted by and as well as their inbox, they’ve been getting it, you know, in the neck face to face and that has, you know, I think created a change in mood.”Around 12 more letters were handed to Sir Graham on Wednesday, according to Sky News, while the BBC reported that around half of the 20 MPs at the “pork pie” rebellion meeting yesterday have put letters in this morning.To trigger a leadership challenge, 54 Conservative MPs must write letters of no confidence to the committee chair before. A simple majority of Tory MPs – around 180 – would have to vote against Mr Johnson in a no-confidence vote to oust him from No 10.A significant group of Tories who won their seats in Mr Johnson’s 2019 election landslide appear to have lost faith in the PM, after he admitted attending a “bring your own booze” event in the Downing Street garden during lockdown of May 2020.Dubbed the “pork pie plot”, a group of around 20 MPs who won their seats in so-called red wall constituencies at the last election are understood to have met on Tuesday to discuss Mr Johnson’s potential downfall.Polling by JL Partners for Channel 4 news found the Tory vote has plummeted in red wall seats over the course of one month, with the PM’s approval rating dropping from net -9 in December 2021 to net -35 now.The pollster said if repeated at a general election, the Conservatives would hold only Dudley North, Bassetlaw and Great Grimsby out of the 45 seats gained from Labour in the North, Midlands and Wales.Andrew Bridgen – one of seven MPs to have publicly declared they want Mr Johnson to go and have submitted no-confidence letters – predicted a no-confidence vote next week.“I heard first-hand last night that another 20 from the 2019 intake will be going in today. I would have thought that will encourage a considerable number of others who are wavering to put their letters in,” he said.Mr Bridgen added: “I think will we get to threshold of 54 this week. Graham Brady will announce we are having a confidence vote next week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday.”Mr Johnson insisted on Tuesday that he wasn’t told it was against the rules for him to attend a gathering in the garden of Downing Street on 20 May 2020.Baroness Davidson – who last week called on Mr Johnson to resign along with current Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross – criticised his defence as “pretty weak”.“The best they could come up with was, ‘Nobody told me it was against the rules that I stood at a lecturn and told the country about and created for the last two years’.She added: “Which I thought, you know, if that was the best he could do in, you know, in four days of trying to get a line. It was pretty weak. And I think the prime minister is going to have a very difficult time of PMQs today.”Defence minister James Heappey has said he “sincerely hopes” that Mr Johnson did not mislead parliament about the drinks party in the No 10 garden.Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether he was the right person to lead party into next general election, Mr Heappey said: “As things stand, right now, yes.”He urged colleagues to keep “cool heads” and wait for the outcome of civil servant Sue Gray’s report into government drinks gatherings during the pandemic. More

Boris Johnson is battling to save his premiership as a group of Conservatives openly discuss how he could be ousted from Downing Street over the partygate scandal.Dubbed the “pork pie plot”, a group of around 20 MPs who won their seats in so-called red wall constituencies at the 2019 election are understood to have met on Tuesday to discuss Mr Johnson’s potential downfall.So why is the plot named after the meat and pastry delicacy? One of the alleged rebel red wall MPs, Alicia Kearns, represents Melton – home of the Melton Mowbray pork pie.An irritated minister loyal to Mr Johnson came up with the dismissive name for the rebellion, according to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg.Conservative colleagues have insisted that Ms Kearns is not leading any rebellion. Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison and West Dorset MP Chris Lode also attended the meeting, according to reports.However, Ms Davison has told local campaigners to say that was the victim of a “fabricated” smear by No 10 following newspaper reports that she was one of the key organisers against Mr Johnson, according to the BBC.How many MPs are planning to send no-confidence letters?Up to 20 Tory MPs from the 2019 intake are planning to send letters of no confidence in Mr Johnson to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady today, The Telegraph reported.To trigger a leadership challenge, 54 Conservative MPs must write letters of no confidence to the chair. Seven MP have already said publicly they have done so, with Bury South’s Tory MP Christian Wakeford the latest to reveal he had sent a letter to Sir Graham.The BBC reported one of the 2019 MPs claiming that half of those at the “pork pie” meeting yesterday have put letters in already this morning – angered by a threat that they could losing seats under boundary changes.But most Tory MPs have publicly urged patience over top civil servant Sue Gray’s report into government drinks gatherings before firm conclusions can be drawn.How soon could we see a no-confidence vote?Andrew Bridgen – one of seven MPs to have publicly declared they want Mr Johnson to go and have submitted no-confidence letters – said he expects at least 20 more letters to go in on Wednesday and predicted a vote next week.“I heard first-hand last night that another 20 from the 2019 intake will be going in today. I would have thought that will encourage a considerable number of others who are wavering to put their letters in,” he said.Mr Bridgen added: “I think will we get to threshold of 54 this week. Graham Brady will announce we are having a confidence vote next week, probably Tuesday or Wednesday.”A simple majority of Tory MPs – around 180 – would have to vote against Mr Johnson in a no-confidence vote to oust him from Downing Street and spark a leadership contest.Does the rebellion go beyond the 2019 Tory MPs?Despite the meeting involving around 20 red wall MPs, there were 107 new Tories elected at the last election. Many of them are said to have shared a Guido Fawkes tweet saying “get a grip and a sense of perspective”.Anger at Mr Johnson and dismay at his position goes beyond the 2019 intake, however. One Tory MP “close” to sending in a no-confidence letter told The Independent that opposition to Mr Johnson was strongest among “one nation” Tories who had been opposed to Brexit, as well as some in the Covid Research Group (CRG) who had been vehemently against restrictions.“Many of the 2019 intake feel they owe their seats to him [Mr Johnson]. So if some of them are turning against him it’s a bad sign for him.”An analysis by The Times newspaper showed that 58 Conservative MPs had openly criticised the prime minister over partygate. More

Boris Johnson’s future as British prime minister hangs in the balance after a string of media reports emerged in December and January alleging a series of lockdown-breaking parties were held at 10 Downing Street over the course of the coronavirus pandemic as the public observed and endured the tough social restrictions then in place.Conservative MPs have long backed Mr Johnson in the belief that he is a sure-fire election winner popular with voters but are now beginning to revise their opinion following his disastrous recent run of outrages and gaffes.The prime minister was photographed taking part in a cheese and wine social in the Downing Street garden on 15 May 2020 and has apologised to the House of Commons for his attendance at another rule-breaking gathering on the same lawn five days later, insisting he had no prior knowledge of it and “implicitly believed it was a work event”.His estranged former adviser Dominic Cummings has since alleged that Mr Johnson did know about the party in advance, which, if true, would mean he has lied to Parliament, rendering his position untenable.The PM’s apparent contrition likewise cut little ice with opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer who described him as a “pathetic spectacle of a man who has run out of road” and “without shame”, derided his mea culpa as “worthless” following “months of deceit and deception” and called on him to resign, the seething disdain in his voice drawing chuckles of laughter from across the Commons while members of Mr Johnson’s frontbench sat stoney-faced behind their Covid masks.The PM’s subsequent insistence during a hospital visit that no one had told him the event in question was against the rules was even less convincing, given that he himself was responsible for setting those very same rules.Much now hangs on senior civil servant Sue Gray’s forthcoming report into what went on behind closed doors – an unenviable job of disentangling a web of allegations covering everything from catered Christmas parties to wine suitcases – the outcome of which could see the clamour for Mr Johnson’s resignation become deafening.Support from the PM’s Cabinet colleagues has been largely lukewarm, slow in forthcoming and as non-commital as possible (deputy PM Dominic Raab in particular has tied himself in knots), with senior ministers Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Jeremy Hunt all rumoured to be sounding out support for a possible leadership challenge. Even before he became engulfed by “Partygate”, the prime minister was mired in “Tory sleaze” allegations surrounding Owen Paterson and then his former attorney Sir Geoffrey Cox throughout the autumn, as well as uproar over his rumoured plan to scrap the Northern Ireland Protocol and his cancellation of the northern leg of HS2, a crisis period that culminated in a disastrous speech to the Confederation of British Industry Annual Conference. There, Mr Johnson imitated a revving car engine, waxed lyrical about a recent trip to Peppa Pig World and lost his place in his notes, spending an excruciating 21 seconds desperately rifling through loose pages and muttering apologies.The assembled executives were left perplexed, having attended in the hope of hearing something constructive about the state of Britain’s stumbling economic recovery, post-Brexit trading conditions and the ongoing disruption to the supply chain caused by Covid and the HGV driver shortage.For some of the prime minister’s own Conservative MPs, enough is enough.A number of backbenchers are said to have written to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, expressing their discontent with Mr Johnson’s leadership already, pre-empting Ms Gray’s finding.Under Conservative Party rules, a leadership contest is triggered if 15 per cent of sitting Tory MPs write to its executive committee, whose 18 members meet weekly to discuss party affairs, demanding a change at the top. Currently, that would equate to 54 letters from the party’s pool of 360 MPs.No confidence letters are handed in confidentially under party rules, so there is no accurate, publicly available tally of how many have been submitted.Should Sir Graham eventually receive enough to proceed, the prime minister would then need to secure 50 per cent of thevote to survive, without which he would be forced to step down.If he were to secure a majority, his prize would be the guarantee of a full-year’s immunity from further no-confidence challenges, potentially giving him time to steady the ship, rebuild alliances and strengthen his grip over the parliamentary party. More