British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) addressed the Cabinet at a weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday in Downing Street.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrambled yesterday to regain tattered authority after surviving a distrust resolution that caused deep divisions in the Conservatives and raised serious questions about how long he could be in office. ..
Under party rules, Johnson is now free from another challenge for a year. However, the former Prime Minister, who faced a distrust resolution, was terminally damaged, the number of Conservative members continued to grow, and Johnson, who pleased famous people, was hurt by a “partisan” ethical scandal. I am worried that it is the responsibility of the voters.
Nonetheless, Johnson vowed to “get to work” after a conservative lawmaker voted 211-148 to support him as a leader, focusing on “what’s important to the British people.” Guess.
“We can now draw a line under the problem that the enemy wants to talk about,” Johnson told a cabinet colleague. “We can move the country forward.”
However, the scale of the rebellion cast serious doubts about his ability to govern when economic and social tensions were rising. Former Conservative Prime Minister William Hague asked Johnson to resign, saying “the damage done to his prime minister is serious.”
“The irrevocable words, the irreversible report were released, and the votes were cast to show a higher level of rejection than the Tories leaders have ever endured and survived,” The Hague wrote in an article in The Times of London. ing. Scattered in the British media.
“This isn’t over,” said Conservative MP Philip Dunne, who voted against Johnson in a distrust resolution on Monday.
Voting was triggered because at least 54 Tory lawmakers (15% of the party’s caucuses) demanded a challenge to Johnson.
Johnson needed the support of 180 of the 359 conservative lawmakers to maintain power. He got more than that — but he described the victory as “convincing,” but the rebellion was greater than some of his supporters had predicted.
The margin was narrower than what his predecessor Theresa May got in the 2018 distrust resolution. She was forced to resign after six months.
“It’s going to be a big blow, and I think they’ll be worried that the story isn’t over yet,” said Tim Bale, a professor of political science at Queen Mary University of London. “In reality, these contests have a habit of revealing how weak the prime minister’s authority is.”
Less than three years after Johnson led the party to the biggest election victory in decades, the rebellion was also a sign of a deep conservative division. Most British newspapers have undoubtedly been bad news for leaders who have always shown the unusual ability to shrug scandals.
Conservative supporters The Daily Telegraph announced that “a hollow victory will tear the Tories,” the Times called Johnson a “injured victor,” and the left-wing Daily Mirror frankly said.
However, some stubborn supporters tried to pass the vote yesterday. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the party “should draw a line in the sand after this vote.”
“It clearly and decisively won,” he said.
The vote came after months of dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister’s ethics and judgment, centered on the exposure of law-breakers at the Prime Minister’s Office when Britain was blocked during a coronavirus pandemic. did.
In a report on the “Party Gate” scandal last month, civil servant Sue Gray was given alcohol by Downing Street staff in 2020 and 2021 when pandemic restrictions prevented British residents from even visiting social and dying relatives. I explained about the fuel wash basin. Gray said Johnson and senior officials must be held responsible for the “leadership and judgment failure” that created a culture of rule-breaking governments.
Johnson was also the first prime minister to be fined £ 50 ($ 63) by police for attending a party and sanctioned for violating the law during his tenure.
The prime minister said he was “humility” and “full responsibility”, but defended attendance at the party as needed for the morale of his staff and called some criticisms of the “partisan” unfair.
Johnson is still faced with a parliamentary ethical investigation into “partisan”, and his government also manages the fallout from Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, while suffering from soaring energy and food bill pain. We are under strong pressure to relieve.
Polls led the central left-wing opposition Labor Party nationwide and were summoned when the incumbent Tories were kicked out by a sex scandal if the Conservatives lost two parliamentary special elections later this month. , Johnson will face further pressure.
Mr. Bale said Johnson is likely to fight back with tax cuts and other policies designed to appeal to his party’s right-wing base.
“The problem with that is that if you want, you’re proposing a policy solution to the personality problem,” he said. “From polls, the public seems to be particularly opposed to Boris Johnson, which is one of the reasons for lowering the Conservative Party.”
Jill Lawless, London, MDT / AP
