Boris Johnson wins confidence vote by 211 votes to 148
Sir Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative 1922 Committee, says 359 votes were cast. There were no spoilt ballots.
Confidence in Boris Johnson: 211
No confidence in Johnson: 148
That means more than 40% of Tory MPs voted against Johnson.
Evening summary
Here’s a roundup of the key developments from this evening:
- Boris Johnson was clinging to his premiership on Monday night after 148 of his MPs voted to oust him from Downing Street in a ballot that exposed potentially fatal rifts within his party. The prime minister won the support of 211 MPs but 41% of his party voted to get rid of him. It was the worst verdict on a sitting prime minister by their own party in recent times.
- In a clip for broadcasters Boris Johnson has described the result as “good news” because, he claimed, it would allow the government to put Partygate behind it and to focus on “what we as a government are doing to help people”. He insisted it was an “extremely good” result despite a worse performance than Theresa May in her confidence vote.
- Keir Starmer said it was “grotesque” that Tory MPs voted to support someone with no sense of duty. He said: “The Conservative party now believes that breaking the law is no impediment to making the law. The Conservative party now believes that the British public have no right to expect honest politicians.”
- Starting an instant spin operation outside the room where the result was announced, the Foreign Office minister James Cleverly called it “a comfortable win” and said rebels should now give up on their efforts. Meanwhile, Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, told Sky News that Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, would be “punching the air” tonight because his ally, Boris Johnson, will remain as PM.
- Tory rebels have vowed to keep trying to force Boris Johnson from office, as the prime minister’s allies admitted he was reaching “the beginning of the end” after a devastating result in Monday night’s confidence vote. They will hold his feet to the fire as the next Partygate inquiry – into whether the prime minister misled parliament by denying any Covid rules were broken in Downing Street – gets under way in the coming weeks.
I shouldn’t tell you this, but Tory MPs have a new survival strategy: ‘Boris? Who’s Boris?’
Ministers will do anything to defend the PM, but others feel the best thing is to distance themselves and hope for the best
Working for a Conservative MP, I hear a lot of talk about the party’s internal business. Sometimes it’s what people say directly to me, but more often than not they just have the conversations around me.
One question is, understandably, coming up a lot: will Boris Johnson be ousted, and if not, why not? The answer depends on who you’re talking about.
A very common view among more senior MPs and Tory staffers is that the recent intake of Conservative backbenchers, often those from the “red wall” seats, are often of low ability, even not hugely clever. Both 2017 and 2019 elections were sudden, and there just wasn’t enough time to vet candidates.
A lot of them don’t have especially good non-political careers to fall back on, so being an MP is all they have. These MPs are not especially good at holding the prime minister to account. In part, they sometimes just don’t understand very well how politics and parliament work. But also, all they want is to stay in parliament, and so are less willing to stand up to the government. For now, many see their only viable chance of re-election being with Johnson as the leader. Not least because the question asked by most Tory MPs is, who next? They don’t especially care if the party wins a majority at the next election, not least because there doesn’t seem to be any plan for government.
As long as there is no credible alternative, and they believe they can hold on to their seat with him at the helm, they will not push for him to go. The one thing that could persuade some to change their minds is if the Conservatives lose both byelections next month. But even winning one of the byelections could be enough to save Johnson. These new MPs have no other desire but to be re-elected so they can continue their fantasy of being important and influential. They have no qualms about supporting a man they know is not fit for office, and who is now even getting booed by a crowd of royalists.
While ministers – particularly Nadine Dorries – will generally say absolutely anything to defend the prime minister, more widely in the party, I’ve seen different MPs adopt varying strategies. Some are just keeping their heads low, trying as much as possible to avoid campaigning and the media. Others are more proactive, and still campaign locally, but make sure to never mention Johnson or the government.
The approach they adopt depends in part on where their constituency is located, and how long they have held the seat. Well-established MPs in traditionally Tory constituencies can afford to sit it out and rely on loyalists. But if you’re in a more marginal or red wall seat it needs more effort, highlighting efforts in parliament, and funding secured for the area. Only an election will tell if either tactic will work, but one thing is clear: for now, they are all trying to distance themselves from Johnson and his cabinet.
And what about us staffers? While our counterparts in Labour and the Liberal Democrats plan for ideas they think will move the country forward, Conservative aides spend their day defending the latest nonsensical political message CCHQ has decided on to make people think Brexit works, such as imperial measures and crowns on pint glasses, something rushed through to appeal to the core vote and distract from the latest troubles.
There is no such thing as Johnsonism, just a pact made by those MPs who used him to get elected, and they will do what they can to keep him in office. Time will tell if there are enough of these to keep the prime minister in a job.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, reads the result of the vote. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Boris Johnson hails 'decisive, conclusive' win despite huge rebellion
- Analysis: Boris has won - but the vultures are circling
- The rebels who urged Boris Johnson to quit
- How the knives came out for the PM
- Why Westminster's worst-kept secret is out
- What the PM told backbenchers: 'I can win again'
Boris Johnson hailed a "decisive, conclusive" win despite a huge rebellion as he secured his political survival - for now at least - after winning a confidence vote by 211 to 148.
The result was announced by Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, on a dramatic day that saw several more of Mr Johnson's own MPs turn on him.
"Don't forget when I first stood to be leader of the Conservative Party in 2019, I didn't get anything like that much support from my colleagues in Parliament," he told Sky News.
"What we have now is an opportunity to put behind us all the stuff as I say that people in the media like going on about. There's a difference in the category of conversation. I know people want to talk about stuff that goes on at Westminster.
"What I want to talk about is what we as a Government are doing. What we're going to do now is take the opportunity to unite and deliver. And that's what we want to do."
The PM added he had "no interest" in a snap election - but stopped short of explicitly ruling it out.
That's all for today...
Following the pattern of his political career, Boris Johnson lives to fight another day.
Mr Johnson won out in a confidence vote some rebels are now saying was too much, too soon, in the face of a disorganised opposition and an extensive Government payroll vote.
For the Prime Minister it is now 'case closed' on partygate. He dismissed it as a media obsession three times in as many minutes, insisting he now has more support among Tory MPs than he did in 2019.
But while he is vindicated tonight, Mr Johnson is not out of the woods. He faces a privileges committee investigation, the cost-of-living crisis, and two crucial by-elections on the same day later this month.
Smaller rebellions than this marked the beginning of the end of both Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May's premierships. A man who has always defied political gravity, Mr Johnson will be hoping Monday was a new start - and not a staging post on the end of the road.
Tonight's vote was too soon, says David Davis
David Davis, the former Brexit minister, described tonight's vote of no confidence as "premature".
"People used to say 'have you put your letter in?' I said 'no, it's not appropriate at this point in time because this was the predictable outcome'," he told the PA news agency.
"We are now left with a slight limbo for a year. And, of course, we have still got the Privileges Committee hanging."
Asked if the result worried him, he replied: "No. The party has made
its decision and, you know, it's fair enough. It's what I thought they
would decide. I didn't know what the majority would be but I thought he
would win. And that's the outcome we have got."
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