With MPs becoming weary of his defence, Boris Johnson came perilously close on Monday to losing his job as Britain’s prime minister, and now he must fight to win back the support of his party and the public.
For the time being, he is still in power. But even those who voted for him in a confidence vote believe he must now change – return to the conservative party’s historic beliefs, encourage unity, and take the reins of leadership.
His e-mail inbox is over-filled. Food and gasoline costs are growing while salaries stagnate, putting pressure on British families’ budgets when it has not been this tight since the 1950s.
Meanwhile, airports are facing transportation congestion because of a lack of workers.
Even the maestro of political comebacks may have difficulty with this time around, given the current political climate.
“Partygate” controversy regarding his violations of Covid-19 lockdown regulations pulled Ed Costelloe down, according to the head of the organisation Conservative Grassroots, which endorsed Johnson in 2019.
“Somehow, you’re doomed as soon as you have to face a vote of confidence. As soon as it is done, the vultures begin to assemble in large numbers. Ed Costelloe told Reuters, “I believe he’s in real, serious danger.”
Boris Johnson’s 211-to-148 victory in the House of Commons was worse than that of his predecessor Theresa May, who won the vote but was forced out six months later.
It was a harsh wake-up call for a leader who had seemed untouchable after his pledge to “get Brexit done” in 2019 won him supporters in areas of the nation the Conservatives had never gained and the party’s largest majority in over three decades.
Lawmakers’ motives for wanting Johnson gone are as diverse as they are many, crossing party lines and making the rebels a little wary of each other since then.
Legislators point to a variety of issues as evidence that the 57-year-old PM should step down, including “partygate,” threats to breach international law, protecting rule violators in high positions of authority, several policy reversals, and a general lack of respect for his office.
It is possible that the lack of unity in Monday’s revolt saved him. However, he has been damaged by the experience.
Survivor
David Cameron likened Johnson, also known as Boris, to a “greasy piglet” who is difficult to capture in the past, and he’s been making a career out of it ever since.
Just hours before the vote, Johnson delivered a speech to his party’s MPs, in which he remained sure that he could win again.
According to a senior party source at the meeting, he added, “If you don’t think that we can come back from our present position and win again, then you haven’t looked at my record or the record of our party.”
Even while Johnson’s ruffled look and unusual mop of blonde hair may fool some into thinking that he lacks discipline and ruthlessness in order to reach this stage, others have cautioned against underestimating him.
There are those who believe that Boris Johnson may be nearing the end of his political career following a string of sex scandals and errors as London Mayor, Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister.
When he backed his old aide Dominic Cummings when he breached Covid-19 guidelines early in the outbreak, some in the party saw the rot begin.
His early defence of an outspoken Conservative MP who had been found guilty of breaking lobbying regulations and a U-turn on extending free school lunches to children from low-income households did nothing to ease the situation.
It was the culmination of months of rumours of lockdown-breaking parties in Johnson’s Downing Street culminating in a piece last month amounting to fights and alcohol-induced vomiting in the early house when the country was adhering to tight Covid-19 regulations.
To express their displeasure, one former Conservative member of parliament left their party and joined the major opposition Labour Party.
Former Labour MP Christian Wakeford tells Reuters it was “embarrassing” to defend the unjustifiable for an unrepentant Prime Minister.
In the long run, Conservative Grassroots Chair Costelloe believes this move might be fatal: “I am strongly of the belief that we will lose the next election if he is still there.”
