Johnson sweats on moves to unseat him as British PM

LONDON－British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday faced signs of an organized revolt in his Conservative party over revelations of lockdown-breaching parties, as he geared up for a grilling in parliament.

Johnson was set to speak at the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions.

Afterward, a group of more than 20 Tory MPs met to "discuss their concerns about Johnson's leadership", The Times newspaper reported.

It said a number of those were preparing to submit letters of no confidence after Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons at midday.

To trigger a leadership challenge, 54 of the 360 Conservative MPs in parliament must write letters of no confidence to the chairman of the party's 1922 Committee, or the Conservative Party's parliamentary group in the House of Commons.

"Group of 2019 MPs to submit letters to try to hit threshold of 54 to trigger a contest," said BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg. "They might hit 54."

An analysis by The Times newspaper showed that 58 Conservative lawmakers had criticized Johnson.

On Tuesday, Johnson denied misleading Parliament about lockdown-breaching parties, and confirmed he has given an account of events to an inquiry probing alleged violations of coronavirus rules by the government.

Johnson told Parliament last week that he "believed implicitly that this was a work event" when he attended a party in the Downing Street garden on May 20, 2020－when lockdown restrictions were in force.

Senior ministers in Johnson's Conservative government said they believed him, but added that the prime minister would have to resign if he is proven to have lied.

'Nonsense'

Responding to claims made on Monday by former senior adviser Dominic Cummings that Johnson misled Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the suggestion that Johnson had lied is "nonsense".

"He's made it very clear to the House of Commons, took questions on this, that he thought it was a work event," he told Times Radio.

Cummings, who left government in November 2020, claimed in his blog that Johnson had agreed the drinks party should go ahead.

He added that he and other senior advisers were prepared to swear under oath that the prime minister had "lied to Parliament about parties", noted The Daily Telegraph.

Agencies - China Daily