Tories’ 1922 Committee is to decide on whether the party wants the embattled leader to remain in power
FILE PHOTO. Boris Johnson arrives for the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster on May 10, 2022. ©Toby Melville – WPA Pool / Getty Images
Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee, has announced that the threshold has been reached for a vote of confidence in the leadership of Boris Johnson and scheduled it to take place on Monday evening.
There will be a two-hour window for voting, with results announced at a point of time yet to be determined, the statement shared with the British media said. Brady said the results will be available “shortly” after the ballot closes.
Johnson is facing a challenge due to a number of scandals that occurred under his leadership, including the so-called “partygate” – several instances when government officials held gatherings in violation of their own Covid-19 restrictions. Opponents of the prime minister believe he has failed the country and his party and should be ousted.
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At least 15% of Tory MPs, or 54 people, have sent letters to Brady expressing their lack of confidence in Johnson’s leadership. This triggered the vote under party rules. If he survives, Johnson would be immune for one year to another attempt by party members to unseat him.
Brady declined to tell journalists when exactly the threshold had been reached, stating that some MPs had said in their letters that he should consider the quorum effective after the end of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Number Ten welcomed the development, saying a confidence vote would “end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on.” Johnson has previously stated that he didn’t believe his involvement in ‘partygate’ warranted his resignation and said that abandoning his position now would be “irresponsible.”
