Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab has suggested that the debate over Boris Johnson’s leadership is “over” following the latter’s victory in yesterday night’s vote of no confidence.
211 (around 58 per cent) MPs voted in favour of keeping Johnson at the helm, while 148 (around 41 per cent) voted to oust him.
Raab told Sky News: “But they didn’t. I come onto this show, you ask very fair questions and I always want to answer them as best I can, but to be honest with you, my whole point would be all of that speculation, all of that hypothetical debate, that is over now. We had that vote, the Prime Minister won with 59 per cent and we move forward.”
In 2018, Theresa May won a vote of no confidence with the backing of 63 per cent of her own MPs.
In June 2019 May announced her intention to resign as PM as the threat of a fresh no confidence vote loomed in the following months.
Quizzed over why he thought 41 per cent of Conservative MPs voted against their leadership, the justice secretary reiterated a line taken by both Wales secretary Simon Hart and the PM himself last night, stating: “The prime minister won it with 59 per cent, that is actually more than he got in terms of support when he was elected leader of the Conservative Party
“…The prime minister won it clearly, he won it by 63 votes… and now the most important thing I think is to respect that result and to move forward.
“We have got two years to deliver and demonstrate we are delivering and I think we are the ones with a plan,” he went on.
The Times newspaper reports that some cabinet ministers anticipate a reshuffle in the coming days, with several ministers having been quiet over their support for Johnson ahead of yesterday’s vote.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss dodged questions over the security of Johnson’s premiership in an interview with the BBC this afternoon, simply stating that, “The prime minister remains committed to our agenda. He has already delivered on Brexit, he has delivered on Covid, on helping the economy recover, he has delivered on supporting Ukraine in the face of appalling Russian aggression.
“That is what the Cabinet want him to carry on doing and that is what the country want him to carry on doing,” she went on.
In just over a fortnight the Conservatives will face two by-elections, in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton respectively, on 23 June.
Lacklustre results in these seats could prompt further complaints from Conservative MPs, laying the groundwork for possible 1922 rule changes and a further no confidence vote.
However Raab attempted to reduce expectations, highlighting that “by-elections are always challenging”.
“We won Hartlepool little more than a year ago, but by-elections aren’t the acid test. The acid test is the general election. We have got probably two years and our focus should be relentlessly on delivering sustainably long-term because that is the stuff people remember.
“People don’t remember, if we are honest, and I think a lot of the pollsters would say this, they don’t remember by-elections come the general election.”
Meanwhile Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has been campaigning for a hold a vote of no confidence on the prime minister’s leadership by all MPs, though it is as of yet unclear how this would take place.
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner told BBC One’s Breakfast programme that her party would “consider all options” when quizzed over Davey’s plans today, adding that she thought Johnson was “t once again making it very difficult to deal with the issues that people face today.
Many MPs who publicised their criticisms of the PM have cited concerns over rule breaking at Downing Street during lockdown restrictions.
In April the Metropolitan Police issued fines to both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak for violating Covid rules.
Johnson remains under investigation by the House of Commons privileges committee over whether he misled MPs via his comments on the Partygate affair.
Last month’s long-awaited publication of Sue Gray’s report into lockdown gatherings in Downing Street and Whitehall described events during which some staff got so drunk they vomited, wine was spilt on walls and aides brawled.
