Boris Johnson survives no confidence vote, but barely!
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The embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has barely scraped by in a no-confidence vote held by his own party, with a mere 211 out of 359 Conservative MPs voting to keep him in position.
It comes after a series of scandals that led to the necessary threshold of Conservative MPs calling for the vote to be held on Monday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson barely retained his position after a mere 211 out of 359 Conservative MPs voted to keep him in the top job. Credit: Getty Images.
That means at least 180 lawmakers would have needed to have voted against Johnson for him to have lost his position as leader of the ruling party and prime minister.
If he had lost, Johnson would be asked to contact Queen Elizabeth II to tender his resignation and a new Conservative candidate would have been elected to lead the party.
It's been a rough few months for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose tenure has been rocked by the so-called "Partygate" scandal.
Allegations of parties and gatherings at the heart of his government during various stages of COVID-19 lockdowns have led to a damning report by senior civil servant Sue Gray, published late last month.
This report found a culture of partying and socialising among Johnson's staff and circle while millions of Brits were banned from seeing their friends and relatives.
Not only that, but Johnson has also been criticised for his response to an escalating cost-of-living crisis.
With all of this going on, it's no wonder that Johnson wrote a letter to Conservative MPs ahead of a crucial voting period, urging them to support his bid to keep himself in position and reminding them about the momentous achievement of leading the party to its biggest electoral win in 40 years.
Johnson commented about the no-confidence vote, saying: "It presented the moment to draw a line under the issues our opponents want us to talk about -- and to focus instead on what really matters.”
It should be noted that current party rules prevent Johnson from facing another leadership challenge for the next 12 months.
However, his rule was said to be volatile and given that 148 of his own MPs voted against him, the prime minister is in a critical position.
The United Kingdom is set to hold its next general election in 2024. Are you a BoJo fan or not?