Boris Johnson is doomed to be ousted from his own party ahead of the next general election following a devastating no-confidence vote this week, said former Chancellor Philip Hammond.
The former cabinet minister said the “letters are on the wall” for the prime minister after 41% of his own lawmakers voted to remove him – predicting that his authority would “fall away” in the next few months.
“I do not think he will lead the party in the next general election. “I think a riot of this magnitude is very difficult to survive,” Hammond told Bloomberg.
Asked if the prime minister should resign, he said: “This is academic … I am not at all surprised that the prime minister’s position is that even if he wins with one vote, he will step up.
But Mr Hammond said: “That was Theresa May’s position after she won a no-confidence vote in 2018. But from then on, what was written was on the wall.”
The former chancellor added: “The authority is just quietly flowing away. It doesn’t happen overnight. I think we will see a drop of, unfortunately, bad news about the UK economy, which will make it much, much harder for the Prime Minister.
Tory’s other grandmaster, William Hague, said Mr Johnson’s position was “unsustainable” after 148 of his own lawmakers voted to remove him from number 10.
The former leader said earlier this week that there had been a breakdown in the faith over the Partygate scandal, which “almost certainly cannot be fixed.”
The current 1922 rules of the Committee say that Mr Johnson could not face another leadership challenge for a year, but there were rumors that the rebels could try to change the rules if more became clear. greater opposition.
Aaron Bell, a Red Wall Tory candidate elected in 2019 who voted against the prime minister, gave Johnson a year to turn things around.
“The rules say he is 12 months old. “I think it’s a fair estimate of the time it takes to convince people that he can turn this round,” he told ITV’s Peston on Wednesday night.
But Mr Bell did not rule out colleagues calling on the Tory Jury Committee to change the rules to allow for a vote sooner – a potential flare-up is the Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections later this month.
The prime minister is expected to reaffirm his intentions to allow lower-paid workers to use housing benefits to buy their homes – and extend the right to buy to tenants of housing associations – in a big speech Thursday as he seeks to renovate their wealth.
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said he was still “enthusiastic” in support of the prime minister on Thursday, saying Mr Johnson was “doing a good job” and was “privileged” to work with him.
Mr Gove also said he had made a “mistake” in rejecting Mr Johnson’s candidacy to become Conservative leader in 2016. Asked if he would consider running again against Mr Johnson for Tory leadership. , he replied, “Oh God, no.”
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