Boris Johnson has been warned by senior conservatives that a no-confidence vote is now imminent because of the Partygate scandal, with a warning that the mood has “turned against him”.
Tory senior MP Tobias Eloud said the vote on the prime minister’s future was a matter of “when, not whether”, as he urged his colleagues behind the benches to stop “drinking Kool-Aid” and force a change of leadership.
Tory’s peer Lord Hayward, the party’s influential sociological expert, predicted a no-confidence vote within months of a “dramatic” change in support after the prime minister was fined for violating the law on birthday celebrations.
“The mood has turned against the Prime Minister,” Lord Hayward told the BBC after speaking with Tory colleagues in Westminster. “Support for the prime minister has dropped quite markedly … I expect there to be a challenge for his leadership.
Sir John Curtis told The Independent that Partygate would be a major problem for the Tories in local elections in May – saying the party’s poll had deteriorated after the prime minister was fined by Sofia police.
“History will not disappear, history has legs again,” said the poll guru. “The opposition will just keep talking about it. It’s all in Keir Starmer’s favor. “
Professor Curtis said Labor had lengthened their lead over the Tories by three points after Mr Johnson was given a fixed penalty, leading to an average lead of 8 points in the Labor poll.
This comes when the Tory leader in Sunderland said Johnson had become a “shame” for the party. Dr Anthony Mullen said the new leader was “inevitable”, adding: “There can be no prime minister who breaks the law”.
On Friday night, there were reports that Met had imposed new fines for a party held in Garden № 10 on May 20, 2020, an event attended by Mr. Johnson. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said Johnson “should declare immediately if he is fined again.”
Downing Street has not yet commented on the reports, but said earlier that it would reveal whether Johnson received more fines after Scotland Yard said it would not release more public updates before the May 5 election.
About 54 letters of no confidence must be sent to the chairman of the 1922 Conservative Committee to provoke a vote. A majority of the party’s deputies – about 180 – must vote against Mr Johnson to remove him from office.
Former Tory chief whip Mark Harper – who called for Johnson to step down – predicts that the no-confidence motion will be triggered before parliament’s summer vacation in July.
Mr Elwood also suggested on Friday that the threshold would be reached in the coming months. “We will see a constant stream of letters, resignations,” he told Sky News. “More and more MPs believe in private that it is time to hand over the leadership baton.
Lord Hayward said Tory MPs, colleagues and local associations feared a “death by a thousand cuts” as the Partygate saga appeared to haunt the prime minister with more police fines, the publication of Sue Gray’s full report and the Privileges Committee’s investigation. .
“They are moving to say, ‘This cannot go on,'” the colleague told the BBC’s World at One. He said many in the party now want the issue of the prime minister’s leadership to be “resolved” in the next few months.
Lord Barwell, the former head of Theresa May’s cabinet, said Brexiteer MP Steve Baker’s call to leave Johnson this week was significant. “If I was still working at №10, I would be very worried about this intervention.
However, Mr Johnson’s loyal allies attacked Tory MPs, calling for his removal. Northern Ireland Minister Connor Burns said there was “no doubt” the prime minister’s resignation and said critics at the back bench “never actually supported him”.
The loyal ally told BBC Radio 4’s Today: “If the prime minister gets off Westminster Bridge and goes to the top of the water, they would say he can’t swim – that’s a fact.
Sharing Mr Johnson’s “disappointment” with the new Commons investigation, Mr Burns complained: “This will be the most watched event, probably after the Second World War”.
Mr Johnson said on Friday that the public was more interested in a free trade deal with India than Partygate. Asked in New Delhi if he would still be Diwali’s prime minister in October, he said yes.
Defense Secretary Leo Doherty even said on Friday that Partygate was “over and dusty”, claiming that the British public was now “tired of it”.
Speaking at the Invictus Games in The Hague, the minister said: “A lot has been done and sent in the sense that the prime minister apologized for the fixed penalty notice he received. I think the issue is over. “
Professor Curtis said that public anger about Partygate was now “accumulated” in opinion polls and that the widespread perception that Mr Johnson had lied about it would be very difficult to change.
He said: “I think we have reached a point where the opposition probably thinks that Boris Johnson’s stay is in their favor. The message of Labor is “Tories want to hang on to the lawbreaker.” And they will keep repeating it. “
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