The prime minister has stayed defiant after Conservative MPs voted 211 to 148 in favour of her, giving her a 63-vote majority. While the vote was kept secret, a supporter of Mr Boris Johnson said it was “inevitable” that ministers would vote against him.
Tobias Ellwood, who voted against the prime minister, said he understands the chiefs of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs are now considering changing the rules so that the prime minister may face another confidence vote within a year after surviving the first.
Despite 41 percent of his own MPs voted to depose him on Monday night, Mr Johnson declared on Tuesday that he had won a “decisive” triumph. However, it was sufficient for him to retain his position as leader.
According to current Tory party rules, once a confidence vote is held and a leader receives enough support to continue, they will not be subjected to another vote for a year.
“Because if we’re going to have that stay of execution, if we’re going to acknowledge the democratic verdict and support the prime minister, then let’s give him time to improve.”
“However, ways can be developed, and the system can be tweaked so that the current rule of enabling a prime minister to serve for a complete year is changed.”
He went on to say that he could “imagine us going down that road” and that he would “support it being implemented,” but that he now supports the democratic outcome of the referendum.
Mr Ellwood said, “It’s up to Number 10 and the prime minister to follow through on his promise to flip things around and prove that we have a prospect of winning the general election.”
The vote was secret yesterday night, but based on what MPs have said before, it is likely that approximately 75% of backbenchers voted against Mr Johnson.
“The prime minister definitely won it, by a margin of 63 votes, and the most important thing now is to honour that result and move forward.”
Mr Johnson, he claimed, has not been discouraged by the result and now has “renewed energy” to carry out his policies.
According to a Downing Street spokeswoman, the PM is gathering his Cabinet today to urge on ministers to “push forward progress on the government’s priorities.”
He’ll lay out his “vision,” which includes new policy goals including lower childcare costs and a “renewed push” to help more people get on the housing ladder.
Mr Johnson was “mortally wounded” by the vote, according to Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner, who labelled him “arrogant, contemptuous, and a liar.”
“I believe he is doing the country a disservice, and it is apparent that the British public has lost faith in Boris Johnson.”
