2022 vote of confidence in the parliamentary leadership of Boris Johnson

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On 6 June 2022 a vote of confidence was held on Boris Johnson's leadership of the Conservative Party. Johnson won the vote with the support of 211 Conservative members of Parliament, 59% of the total. Out of 359 MPs, 148 (41%) voted against him.

Background[edit]

Further information: Partygate

Beginning in late 2021, the British government was criticised over a number of social gatherings and parties which occurred at government buildings (including the prime minister's residence at 10 Downing Street) while such meetings were legally prohibited due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with exceptions for work events. The ensuing scandal, which was dubbed "Partygate", led to numerous attempts to hold a vote of confidence, from January 2022.[citation needed] On 14 January, it was reported that 30 Conservative MPs had submitted letters of no confidence in Johnson to the 1922 Committee.[1]

On 6 June 2022, following the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, announced that the threshold of 54 letters of no confidence had been met and that a vote of confidence would be held in the evening of the same day.[2] According to party rules, he could not face another vote of confidence for 12 months.[3] In line with agreed procedure, the vote was held by secret ballot.[4]

The following Conservative MPs publicly said that they had submitted letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson:

# MP Constituency Announced Ref.
1 Roger Gale North Thanet 17 December 2021 [5]
– Douglas Ross Moray 12 January 2022[n 1] [6][7]
2 William Wragg Hazel Grove 20 January 2022 [8]
3 Peter Aldous Waveney 1 February 2022 [9]
4 Tobias Ellwood Bournemouth East 2 February 2022 [10]
5 Anthony Mangnall Totnes 2 February 2022 [11]
6 Gary Streeter South West Devon 2 February 2022 [12]
7 Aaron Bell Newcastle-under-Lyme 4 February 2022 [13]
8 Nick Gibb Bognor Regis and Littlehampton 4 February 2022 [14]
9 Nigel Mills Amber Valley 13 April 2022 [15][16]
10 Caroline Nokes Romsey and Southampton North 13 April 2022 [17]
11 Mark Harper Forest of Dean 19 April 2022 [18]
12 Steve Brine Winchester 25 May 2022 [19]
13 Stephen Hammond Wimbledon 26 May 2022 [20]
14 Bob Neill Bromley and Chislehurst 27 May 2022 [21]
15 Anne Marie Morris Newton Abbot 28 May 2022[n 2] [22][23][24]
16 Elliot Coburn Carshalton and Wallington 30 May 2022 [25]
17 Andrew Bridgen North West Leicestershire 30 May 2022[n 3] [26][27][28]
18 John Stevenson Carlisle 31 May 2022 [29]
19 Jesse Norman Hereford and South Herefordshire 6 June 2022 [30]
  1. ^ Ross announced that he had withdrawn his letter in on 10 March 2022, in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.
  2. ^ Marie Morris initially said that she had submitted a letter on 30 January 2022, while sitting as an independent MP after having the whip withdrawn earlier that month. She later resubmitted a letter when she had the Conservative whip restored on 28 May 2022.
  3. ^ Bridgen initially said that he had submitted a letter on 13 January 2022, before announcing that he had withdrawn it on 16 March 2022 in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier that year. He later announced that he had resubmitted a letter on 30 May 2022.

At that stage, the former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt was seen by bookmakers as the most likely next leader of the party, followed by incumbent foreign secretary Liz Truss. Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer who had previously been seen as Johnson's most likely successor, was seen as less likely following reporting about his family's tax status and his receipt of a fine for breaking COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.[31] A poll by the market research firm Opinium found that 59% of voters thought that Conservative MPs should vote to remove Johnson, while 28% of voters thought that they should vote to retain confidence in him.[32] A poll by YouGov found that 42% of Conservative Party members thought that MPs should vote to remove Johnson, while 53% thought they should not. 61% of members thought that the next election would result in a Conservative-led government if Johnson remained in post, while 72% thought that a different leader would deliver a Conservative-led government.[33]

Result[edit]

A majority of Conservative MPs voted that they had confidence in Johnson to continue as party leader. 211 of the 359 Conservative MPs (59%) voted in support of Johnson and (41%) of MPs voted no confidence in him, which The Guardian described as "a larger than expected rebellion".[34]

Comparing Johnson's result with that of previous Conservative leaders we see that his 59% confidence level is lower than the 63% that Theresa May received in her 2019 vote of confidence, higher than the 45% that Iain Duncan Smith received in a 2003 vote, lower than the 66% that John Major received when he resigned as leader and stood again for leadership in 1995, and lower than the 84% share of the vote that Margaret Thatcher received, under the previous process where an MP had to challenge the leader in a ballot, and in which Sir Anthony Meyer challenged Thatcher in the 1989 leadership election.[35][36]

Vote of confidence
Option Votes %
Yes 211 58.8
No 148 41.2

Reactions[edit]

Johnson called the result of the vote "extremely good"[when?] and was reported to be planning a cabinet reshuffle to reward his supporters in the vote.[3] William Hague, former leader of the Conservatives, said the votes "show a greater level of rejection than any Tory leader has ever endured and survived".[3] Lee Anderson, a Conservative MP, claimed that Johnson had been the "victim of a witch hunt led by the BBC".[37]

According to the Conservative parliamentary group's informal rules, the only other option for Conservatives to remove him from power, within the next twelve months, is for the cabinet to ask him to resign, but this is thought unlikely as he has selected cabinet members for their loyalty to him, and their careers depend closely on his.[38] His Conservative opponents have not seen the result as ending their campaign against Johnson, although they have no other constitutional options to challenge him within the party.[38] Philip Dunne, former health minister and ally of Jeremy Hunt (who lost against Johnson in the 2019 party leadership election) said "this is not over".[38]

There has been discussion among Tory MPs, including Tobias Ellwood, of changing the 1922 committee rules to allow another challenge. Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May stepped down after she was told that if she did not, the rules would be changed.[39]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Boris Johnson's government rocked by further damaging lockdown party reports". The Scotsman. 14 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Boris Johnson to face no confidence vote today as scores of Tory MPs call on him to go". The Guardian. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Parker, George; Payne, Sebastian (7 June 2022). "Boris Johnson moves to unite cabinet after confidence vote". Financial Times. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  4. ^ "How does a no-confidence vote actually work?". 6 June 2022.
  5. ^ Richard Mason (17 December 2021). "Boris Johnson: Roger Gale confirms sending letter of no confidence". The National.
  6. ^ McDonald, Andrew (12 January 2022). "Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross urges Boris Johnson to quit over lockdown party". Politico. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  7. ^ Greg Heffer (10 March 2022). "Ukraine war: Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross withdraws no-confidence letter in Boris Johnson due to Russia invasion". Sky News.
  8. ^ Brown, Alexander (20 January 2022). "Senior Tory MP accuses No10 of blackmailing rebellious backbenchers considering vote of no confidence". The Scotsman. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  9. ^ "UK lawmaker calls for Johnson to resign, submits no-confidence letter". Reuters. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  10. ^ McGuiness, Alan (2 February 2022). "Boris Johnson: Tory MP Tobias Ellwood reveals he will be submitting letter of no confidence in prime minister". Sky News. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  11. ^ Sparrow, Andrew (2 February 2022). "Anthony Mangnall becomes latest Tory to call for no confidence vote in PM". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Boris Johnson facing further calls to resign amid parties row". BBC. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  13. ^ Heather Stewart (4 February 2022). "Tory MP Aaron Bell goes public on letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson". The Guardian.
  14. ^ Yorke, Harry; Penna, Dominic; Sheridan, Danielle (4 February 2022). "Boris Johnson must quit over 'partygate', says former minister Nick Gibb". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  15. ^ Maidment, Jack (13 April 2022). "First Tory MP to hand in letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson after 'partygate' fine". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  16. ^ Ferguson, Emily (20 April 2022). "The Tory MPs who have called for Boris Johnson to resign ahead of crunch committee vote". i. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  17. ^ Elgot, Jessica (13 April 2022). "Tory MPs say Boris Johnson's position 'untenable' after Partygate fine". The Guardian. ISSN 1756-3224. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  18. ^ Mark Harper (19 April 2022). "Mark Harper on Twitter: "My letter to @SirGrahamBrady."". Twitter.
  19. ^ "Statement after Sue Gray report published". Steve Brine MP. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  20. ^ Penna, Dominic (26 May 2022). "Stephen Hammond becomes third Tory MP in a day to call for Boris Johnson to resign over partygate". Daily Telegraph.
  21. ^ "Statement on the publication of Sue Gray's report". Sir Bob Neill. 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  22. ^ Morris, Anne Marie (20 January 2022). "Why I submitted a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister". DevonLive. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  23. ^ Marie Morris, Anne (12 January 2022). "Statement: Removal of the Whip". Anne Marie Morris. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  24. ^ Larkin, Tom (28 May 2022). "Tom Larkin". Twitter. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  25. ^ Larkin, Tom (30 May 2022). "Tom Larkin". Twitter. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  26. ^ "Boris Johnson delivered on Brexit and vaccines; all that's left to deliver is his resignation". The Daily Telegraph. 13 January 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  27. ^ Georgia Gilholy (17 March 2022). "Conservative MP withdraws no confidence letter in PM". politics.co.uk.
  28. ^ Elgot, Jessica (30 May 2022). "Jessica Elgot". Twitter. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  29. ^ "Partygate: John Stevenson submits letter of no confidence in Johnson - 28th Tory MP to publicly call for him to go". Sky News. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  30. ^ Jesse Norman (6 June 2022). "Jesse Norman on Twitter: "I have supported Boris Johnson for 15 years, for the London Mayoralty and for PM. Very sadly, I have written to him to say I can no longer do so, for the reasons set out below."". Twitter.
  31. ^ "Who could replace Boris Johnson as PM?". The Independent. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  32. ^ "Opinium @OpiniumResearch". Twitter. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  33. ^ "YouGov Conservative Party Members VONC" (PDF).
  34. ^ "Boris Johnson wins no-confidence vote despite unexpectedly large rebellion". the Guardian. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  35. ^ Bush, Stephen (7 June 2022). "Boris Johnson may hobble on longer than we think". Financial Times. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  36. ^ Jones, Ian (6 June 2022). "How previous Tory leaders have fared in confidence votes or challenges". Independent.
  37. ^ "PM 'victim of a witch hunt led by the BBC' - Tory MP". BBC News. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  38. ^ a b c Payne, Sebastian (7 June 2022). "How will Boris Johnson govern after his leadership challenge?". Financial Times. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  39. ^ "Could Boris Johnson face another confidence vote? How the 1922 Committee rules might allow a second ballot". The Independent. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
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