Over the past six months, since the word ‘Partygate’ entered the vocabulary of the British people, Boris Johnson’s fate has been undecided.
Boris Johnson is the first British Prime Minister to have been found guilty of a crime in office but has managed to hold onto his position until now.
A vote of no confidence was held last night (June 6th) and the announcement of the results at 9pm saw Conservative confidence in Boris split almost completely down the middle. Boris won the confidence vote 211 to 148, securing 59% of his party’s confidence.
In 2019, a similar turn of events saw Theresa May secure the confidence vote – but she resigned within six months due to her failure to deliver Brexit.
For a vote of no confidence to take place, 12% of a party’s MPs are to write to the 1922 committee, in the case of the Conservatives this is 54. Over the past few months the number of letters received by the 1922 committee had been slowly creeping up.
The 1922 committee is made up of backbench Conservative MP’s who meet weekly. Set up in 1923, its purpose has since been to oversee internal elections and votes, particularly regarding the election of party leader. The committee oversees Conservative party votes of no confidence.
Numerous media outlets and political theorists predict Boris will be forced to resign in the coming months, but this push will be difficult as Boris has already presented an apparent reluctance to stand down.
For now, Boris is safe from another vote of no confidence for a year.
Sheffield’s Labour MP Olivia Blake and Conservative MP Miriam Cates we’re offered opportunity to provide comment however did not meet the deadline.
Image Credits: BBC News
