By Laurie Laird
LONDON (MaceNews) – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a parliamentary confidence vote on Monday night, but the scale of his victory raises questions over his authority through the remainder of the parliamentary session.
Members of the premier’s Conservative Party voted by a margin of 211 to 148 to affirm Johnson’s position, allowing the embattled prime minister to stay in office, at least for now. That means that more than 41% of Tory party members voted against Johnson, a higher proportion than MP’s who voted against former Prime Minister Theresa May, who triumphed in a vote of confidence before stepping down.
Announcing the result of the vote on the floor of the House of Commons, Tory Member of Parliament Sir Graham Brady declared, “I can announce that the parliamentary party does have confidence in the prime minister.”
Brady – who serves as the leader of a grouping of non-ministerial MPs – triggered the vote on Monday morning, after receiving more than 54 written calls for a confidence motion against the prime minister. Boris Johnson’s administration has been dogged by violations of Covid rules after numerous parties took place at government offices while the country was confined by lockdown rules. Johnson was fined by London police for breaking those regulations, the first prime minister to be found in breach of UK law while in office.
However, history has not been kind to prime minister who has survived confidence votes. Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, resigned after winning a similar vote. The UK’s first female premier, Margaret Thatcher, lasted just eight days after prevailing in a confidence vote in 1990.
This may not be the end of Johnson’s parliamentary troubles. Earlier on Monday, Sir Graham refused to rule out a change to party rules that prevent a second confidence vote within 12 months. The next general election is due before December of 2024, but that ballot could be brought forward by a majority vote in parliament.