British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he has won the confidence vote within his party “convincingly and decisively”. “A very good result,” he said after 211 of his 359 Conservative party members in parliament had expressed confidence in him.
The 57-year-old head of government said he is grateful to colleagues who have supported him. It is now time, he says, for the party to close ranks and put an end to the ‘party gate’ affair.
That was the reason for the confidence vote, because Johnson himself and many other government officials had flouted the lockdown rules during the corona pandemic. Parliament has yet to begin its investigation into whether Johnson misled parliament in this regard.
Focus
With the support of 59 percent of his party members in parliament, Johnson fared worse than his predecessor Theresa May. She survived a confidence vote with 63 percent of the vote at the end of 2018, but her premiership ended six months later.
Many analysts therefore believe that it will be difficult for Johnson to continue to lead the country credibly. But Johnson sees it differently, he said with his signature optimism. The result “means that as a government we can move forward and focus on the things that I think really matter to people,” the prime minister said.
Later this month there will be by-elections for two Conservative seats in parliament. Loss could be another blow to ‘BoJo’.