‘JOHNSON IS ON BORROWED TIME’
Senior Tories slam damage to party and say prime minister…
PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson has lost the trust of the British public and is living on borrowed time, two senior Tory insiders have told Eastern Eye.
One peer told this newspaper that if Johnson was to step down, it was time for a south Asian to take his place.
On Monday (6) evening, Johnson survived a vote of no confidence from his Conservative MPs, but the prime minister’s position became weakened after a sizeable number refused to back him in a 211-148 split in his favour.
“It’s a stay of execution, he is on probation,” one Tory politician told Eastern Eye. “Without doubt, he is living on borrowed time. If there’s anybody who could defy physical and political gravity then it’s Boris, but even then, I wouldn’t give him high odds.”
The vote – which came two years after Johnson won a landslide general election in December 2019 – followed a string of scandals that have damaged the party.
Chief among them was the ‘partygate’ controversy over pandemic lockdownbreaking events at Downing Street. They caused public outrage and saw Johnson become the first serving UK prime minister to have broken the law.
“In any form of public service, if you lose trust, you undermine your authority, credibility, and, frankly, your life,” said the Tory politician.
“For the remainder of his premiership, he’s got to show he’s got the self-discipline to lead us through what is going to be economically obviously quite a difficult next 12 months, not just inflation and cost of living, which we all know about, but also against the backdrop of the whole global economy slowing down.
“But, I think there is an acceptance that notwithstanding anything he does – level up, improve the economic situation in different parts of the country or the red wall – if the voters simply are not willing to trust him, then they are not going to vote for him again. It’s actually, in my eyes, very straightforward.”
In previous Tory no-confidence ballots, the prime minister’s predecessors Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May both ultimately resigned despite narrowly winning their own votes.
Although Johnson described the result of the vote as “convincing and decisive”, the Tory politician told Eastern Eye the prime minister could follow the same road as Thatcher and May.
“It’s interesting from a political perspective. Historically, a lot of Conservative prime ministers such as David Cameron – and it was true of Theresa May for a while until she got into her Brexit issues – their personal standing was higher
than that of the Conservative party. Currently, Boris’s standing is polling below the Conservative party. And no prime minister has ever won an election for their party, unless their own personal approval ratings are positive,” they said.
A second veteran Tory politician, who has been involved with the party for decades, gave a damning verdict on Johnson’s leadership, saying there was “widespread rebellion against the prime minister” within the party.
“Johnson’s time is different to Thatcher or May because it isn’t just one side of the party that is against him, it’s the one nation of conservatives, from remainers to Brexiteers,” they said.
“I have spent 40 years of my life trying to build support within the British Asian community for the Conservative party and I’ve been really successful. If you see the outcome of the local elections, such as in Harrow, which has a large number of Asians living there – about 30 per cent voted for the Conservatives.
“But I think activists who work really hard for the party feel betrayed by Boris Johnson. He’s done damage to the Conservative party.”
According to the party rules, Johnson is safe from another confidence vote for the next 12 months, but that restriction could technically be changed if there is enough political will to do so.
The party’s ‘1922 committee’ of MPs, who are tasked with overseeing leadership challenges, says it could “easily change the rules” if a majority backs it.
Under Johnson as prime minister, the party has lost once-safe seats in by-elections and scored dismally in last month’s local elections. The Tories are expected to lose their seats in Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton later this month.
Both votes are the result of the incumbent MPs stepping down because of separate sex scandals.
The Wakefield byelection comes after former Tory MP Imran Ahmad Khan was found guilty in April of sexually assaulting a boy, while Tiverton & Honiton MP Neil Parish stood down after admitting to viewing pornography on his mobile phone in the House of Commons.
Even Johnson’s most ardent supporters – such as Lord Ranger – anticipate a loss in Tiverton & Honiton, where the Tories had a 25,000 seat majority.
Reports claim the once-safe Tory seat will go to the Liberal Democrats, with Ranger describing it as “massive blow” and a “signal that the public are working against the government”.
That possibility is focusing the minds of several Tory MPs, who fear their own seats could be at risk if Johnson leads them into the next election.
In a snap poll by Opinium on Monday, 59 per cent of 2,032 respondents said the Tories should ditch him as leader.
Among Conservative members, 42 per cent want MPs to fire Johnson, according to another poll by YouGov.
“I was out canvassing and people had resentment against his leadership – not against the Conservative party, but against the leadership. They were not happy,” the veteran Tory politician said.
“The people of this country have lost faith in his leadership and they don’t want to see the party being damaged for many more years to come. We really need to build up the Conservative party again – under new leadership.”
However, Shailesh Vara, the MP for North West Cambridgeshire, warned that this was a “critical time in UK history” and not the time for Conservative politicians to jostle for leadership.
“It’s important to remember that a Conservative party leadership change will take at least something like 12 weeks. I don’t think the British public would be sympathetic to the Conservative party ‘navel-gazing’ for 12 weeks ... at a time when there are so many serious, urgent and important issues that need the attention of the government,” said Vara.
“The last thing the Conservative party now needs is a period of three months of self indulgence. I’m getting constituents writing to me about this issue. But many more are writing to me about concerns of very practical day-to-day issues. Where’s their bread coming for their next meal? How are they going to deal with the rising cost of living? How are they going to deal with rising energy prices?”
Vara accepted Johnson had made “serious mistakes” but insisted he remained the best person to lead the country.
“The prime minister has apologised (over ‘partygate’). And the reforms suggested by Sue Gray’s report, the prime minister has put them in place 100 per cent.
“So many important issues are affecting my constituents and the people of Britain domestically and internationally. We have Europe that at its most dangerous since the Second World War. And we need to be paying attention to make sure that we can curb Russia’s aggression, which currently is targeted at Ukraine, but we don’t know where this could end.
“It is right that we have a strong leader in place to deal with this threat on our borders, and I believe that Boris Johnson, is that right person. If you look at his record over the past two-three years, he has made the right call on a number of big issues,” Vara said.
“But that doesn’t in any way, not recognise that he could have handled things a lot better, as far as the [Downing Street] gatherings are concerned.”
On Tuesday (7), the prime minister tried to move on from the no-confidence vote, describing it as a “conclusive result” and vowing to “get on with the job”.
Johnson’s plans to move on include an upcoming joint speech with chancellor Rishi Sunak to tackle a worsening cost-ofliving crisis.
The prime minister is also expected to head to Rwanda for a meeting of Commonwealth leaders, then go to Germany and Spain for G7 and NATO summits.
In addition, speculation is mounting that he may reshuffle his senior ministerial team to reward those who backed him.
Ranger urged the Tory party to unite and support Johnson or “they will never win the next election”.
“I am always behind the prime minister because he had a very difficult task and he had done some magic things which he promised,” he said.
“People (MPs) have had the chance to test their opinion, but every time they attack the prime minister, they encourage the Labour party and overshadow all the great achievements this government has been able to achieve during the most challenging times, brought about by the Covid pandemic. The vaccination rollout programme was unprecedented in the world and has given us the freedom to go about and enjoy our daily routines.
“And that will also help to strengthen the economy, which has been hit by the war in Ukraine, and many other factors which are beyond our control.
“Now is the time to unite and face the biggest challenge facing our country and work to stabilise the economy.”
However, if Johnson were to step down, Ranger believes it is time for a British Asian prime minister.
“The opportunity should be was given to an Asian candidate – either Rishi (Sunak) or [health secretary] Sajid (Javid) because it’s time we give the new generation of immigrants a chance to run the country,” he said.
“They will work very hard, because they will have to prove themselves. And they will be good for the restoration of social cohesion as well.”
Even without an obvious candidate to succeed him, former Tory party leader William Hague said Johnson should now “look for an honourable exit”.
Comparing Monday’s margin to votes that ultimately led to the exit of both May and Thatcher, Hague said it showed “a greater level of rejection than any Tory leader has ever endured and survived”.
“Deep inside, he should recognise that, and turn his mind to getting out in a way that spares the party and country such agonies and uncertainties,” Hague wrote in the Times.
Tobias Ellwood, a senior backbencher who voted against Johnson, said the prime minister should revamp his cabinet to “bring in fresh talent and actually start to focus on the big issues”.
But he added that Johnson was likely to ignore such advice and faced “being kicked out before long”.
“I think we’re talking a matter of months, up to party conference (in October),” Ellwood told Sky News.