United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived the no-confidence vote today after his own ruling party turned on him after months of scandal.
Driving the news: According to NBC News, the vote was underway after conservative lawmakers submitted letters of no confidence.
- Since Johnson won, he will remain the party leader and prime minister of the U.K. If he had lost the vote, the Conservative Party would have chosen someone else to lead.
- There is “no clear front-runner to succeed Johnson,” which had led many to believe that Johnson had a chance of victory, according to The Associated Press.
What they’re saying: “The Prime Minister has my 100% backing in today’s vote and I strongly encourage colleagues to support him,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss wrote in a tweet.
- “He has delivered on covid recovery and supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. He has apologised for mistakes made,” she added.
Meanwhile, Labor Party leader Keir Starmer, the opposition, called it “the beginning of the end.”
- “If you look at the previous examples of no-confidence votes, even when Conservative Prime Ministers survive those — and he might survive it tonight — the damage is already done,” Starmer said, per CNN. “Usually, they fall reasonably swiftly afterwards.”
Background: Johnson struggled to stay in power after the revelation earlier this year of parties that were held while the country was under lockdown for COVID-19. He said he wasn’t aware that a work event on May 20, 2020, where people were asked to “bring your own booze” to his residence at No. 10 Downing St., was against COVID-19 rules, as I previously reported.
- “I expect my leaders to shoulder the responsibility for the actions they take,” Conservative lawmaker David Davis told Parliament.
Conservative lawmaker Christian Wakeford said that the prime minister was “incapable of offering the leadership and government this country deserves.”
Although Johnson apologized for the “partygate” scandal, he has been asked to resign.
- Jeremy Hunt, a member of the British Parliament for South West Surrey; John Penrose, MP for Weston-Super-Mare; Angela Richardson, MP for Guildford; Sir Robert Syms, MP for Poole; Steve Brine, MP for Winchester; Sir Bob Neill, MP for Bromley and Chislehurst; and Jesse Norman, MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire were among the ones to do so.