“The prime minister will make the decision for any general election,” he told LBC, adding that the poor opinion poll was “largely based” on the public “seeing a divided party”.
The Prime Minister has the power to call an early election whenever he wants after the Fixed Term Parliament Act was repealed.
That legislation, introduced in 2011, limited elections to every five years unless a two-thirds majority of the House of Commons voted to go public sooner.
Speaking to the Liaison Committee, the Prime Minister said the “earliest date” he envisions for the next election is 2024.
But ahead of the spate of resignations that rocked his leadership, Conservative campaign headquarters “lost” an early vote if Sir Keir Starmer was fined and forced to resign over Beergate.
“If Labor finds itself in a leadership election, it could change the party’s electoral dynamics and planning at the highest level,” an insider told The Times.
But the resignations of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid and the weakening of Mr Johnson’s position in the past 24 hours may have changed that calculus.
The Labor leader has already called on Mr Johnson to step down and said he wanted the country to go to the polls immediately to ensure a “fresh start for Britain”.
“This government is collapsing, the Tory party is corrupt and changing one person at the top of the Tory party will not solve the problems,” he told media on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Steve Reid, his shadow justice secretary, insisted Labor was “ready to fight” a general election immediately if called by Mr Johnson.
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