UK's Johnson challenged in leadership vote

PM not expected to fare well after revolt that could make his position untenable

Lawmakers from the United Kingdom's ruling Conservative Party forced a so-called confidence vote in Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday evening as they fought to drive him from office.

The revolt was triggered when the party's management received letters calling for it from at least 15 percent of the 359 Conservative Party members of Parliament.

Such secret ballots are won by the side attracting most of the votes. MPs chose simply between either ousting Johnson or allowing him to stay on as prime minister.

Johnson was widely expected to win.

His office said he first heard about the vote on Sunday evening.

His spokesman told reporters the prime minister welcomed the "chance to end months of speculation".

Cabinet member Michael Gove tweeted: "The PM got the big decisions right on Brexit and COVID.We need to focus now on defending Ukraine, driving levelling up, and generating growth."

Fellow party insider Health Secretary Sajid Javid said on Radio 4's Today program the vote was "an opportunity to put all this behind us and get on with the job".

But dissent within Johnson's party had grown significantly, ever since a police investigation and parliamentary probe both found he had broken rules he helped create during the UK's novel coronavirus lockdowns, when he attended parties when most people were strictly self-isolating.

Conservative Party MPs feared Johnson's indiscretions, which resulted in a police fine, would alienate voters at the next general election.

Andrew Bridgen, a Conservative Party lawmaker who opposed the prime minister, told the BBC ahead of the vote: "I don't think people are going to forgive and forget … We have to be ruthless; otherwise we'll end up with a socialist in power."

But he told the broadcaster the party had put wavering MPs under a lot of pressure to support Johnson.

Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, acknowledged it may be better for Labour if Johnson were still at the helm of the Conservatives when the next general election is held because he is such an impediment. But he said he wanted Conservative Party lawmakers to oust Johnson for the good of the country, saying on LBC Radio the prime minister left people with a "general sense that this man doesn't really tell the truth".

Starmer added that, even if Johnson survived Monday's vote, the challenge to his leadership from within his party was "the beginning of the end" of his time as prime minister.

Chris Mason, the BBC's political editor, agreed, saying prime ministers rarely fare well after such votes, even when they win.

"The simple truth is the 'partygate' row has incensed lots of people and a growing number of Conservative MPs felt it was behavior that was impossible to defend," he wrote in a column, while noting former prime minister Theresa May won such a vote but was removed from office within months.