‘Wounded’ PM hails a ‘decisive victory’

BORIS Johnson insisted he had secured a

‘decisive’ victory despite a confidence vote which saw 148 of his own MPs try to oust him.

ToryMPsvotedby211to148 in support of the Prime Minister but the scale of the revolt against his leadership leaves him wounded.

When Theresa May faced a confidence vote in 2018 she secured the support of 63 per cent of her MPs but was still forced out within six months.

MrJohnsonsaw41percent of his MPs vote against him, a worse result than Mrs May.

ButthePrimeMinistertold reporters in Downing Street: ‘I think it's an extremely good, positive, conclusive, decisive result which enables us to move on, to unite and to focus on delivery and that is exactly what we are going to do.’

He rejected the assertion that he was now a lame duck prime minister who needed to call a snap election to secure a new mandate from the public, insistinghewasfocusedonthe public's priorities.

The scale of the revolt against Mr Johnson's leadership has left him vulnerable, and he could suffer further blows in two key by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton on June 23.

But he was bullish as he told reporters that he had secured a ‘very good result for politics and for the country’.

The ballot was triggered after at least 54 MPs - 15 per cent of the party's representatives in the Commons - formally indicated they had no confidence in the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister had made a last-ditch plea to Tory MPs to back him ahead of last night’s vote, promising future tax cuts and highlighting his own record of electoral success.