Libs Debs table vote of no confidence in Johnson as Starmer waits it out

The vote of no confidence demand comes as pressure mounts on the PM to resign over ‘Partygate’.

The Liberal Democrats have tabled a no-confidence motion in Boris Johnson as pressure is mounting for the Prime Minister to resign over the Covid rule-breaking parties at Downing Street last summer. Party Leader Ed Davey wants MPs to back the vote of no confidence because the PM has “broken Covid lockdown laws” and “misled both Parliament and the public about it”.
So far it has been backed by 18 MPs, including two from Labour. One Tory, Sir Mike Penning is listed as having signed the motion and then withdrawn his signature. The motion, however, is NOT the same as a full-blown vote of no confidence motion in Her Majesty’s Government which would be capable of triggering a general election.
It is merely Early Day Motion that brings about discussions on pertinent issues. The party did the same when Boris Johnson took office and it had no consequences at that point, as reported by The Mirror. Labour Shadow Minister Wes Streeting told Times Radio: “You’ll have no trouble persuading opposition MPs to declare no confidence in the Prime Minister and vote for it. The challenge though, and this is the central issue here, is the only mechanism for removing the Prime Minister ultimately sits in the hands of Conservative MPs.”
Labour leader Kier Starmer has declared his disgust at Boris Johnson and said the PM “broke the law and lied” over Downing Street parties, but has yet to back the vote of no confidence motion. Wes Streeting said Labout would not back the motion as it would “galvanise” Tory MPs to defend the PM. He continued that it was up to Tory MPs if “they are going to allow a toxic radioactive Prime Minister to contaminate their party.”
He told Sky News: “I’ll make no bones about it – Boris Johnson carrying on is great for the Labour Party. If I’m thinking about this purely through the prism of party politics, my message to Tory MPs is keep him on, knock yourselves out. Literally, you’ll be knocked out of the next election. But we are still in the middle of the national crisis here and the Prime Minister’s actions and judgements matter.”
If 54 Tory MPS express a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson it will trigger a leadership challenge, but he will survive unless more than 180 of his MPs vote against him. Reports suggest that as many as 35 have written to the backbench 1922 Committee chairman to date.


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Claire Gordon

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