Plotters have simply made Boris stronger
ERR…SO that’s it? After months of speculation over whether enough dissident Conservative MPS would support a confidence vote in Boris Johnson, and then whether he would survive or be booted out, it comes down to this. Nothing has changed.
Bizarre as it might sound, if you want to work out where the current Prime Minister finds himself, it makes sense to listen to one famous phrase from his most immediate predecessor.
Remember when Theresa May insisted “nothing’s changed, nothing’s changed” after the disastrous alterations she tried to usher in to the care system before the 2017 general election shredded her of any majority or authority?
Nothing has actually changed now – and to prove that, just study the facts.
Despite the manoeuvrings, Boris Johnson started the week as PM and closed it precisely the same way.
The near certain byelection defeats awaiting the Tories later this month have effectively been “priced in” to his position, as few Tories outside the two constituencies up for grabs give their well-meaning but doomed candidates much of a chance. So what has changed? The size of the mutinous rump of his fellow Conservative MPS has been revealed, and while it is considerably larger than No.10 had projected, it was not enough to tell Bojo he must go.
The plotters are now exposed and have been seen to be the gang that can’t shoot straight, with Jeremy Hunt as their self-styled cheerleader.and if you think he has the charisma or likeability to match Johnson, you may be a candidate for suitable treatment from the NHS – which Hunt was accused of destroying by some staff when he ran it a few years ago.
Forced into daylight from the cover afforded them by the ancient corridors of Westminster and the modern world of Whatsapp, the rebels are exposed as a rudderless bunch of malcontents nursing a wide range of grudges and grievances against Johnson. Frozen with fear as they watched the popularity of the PM falling alongside that of the party he leads, and
therefore putting many of their seats in electoral jeopardy, they moved to strip him of office with the no-confidence vote.
It can easily be argued that all they have achieved is to strengthen his position.
Under current rules, he cannot be challenged for another 12 months. By then it is an extremely plausible argument that is it both far too late and far too close to the next general election to attempt a change.
Intriguingly, Johnson also has history on his side. No prime minister who recently won their first majority has been removed from office.and that will now not change.
Of course this is not to suggest for a moment that all is plain sailing for Johnson. A considerable chunk of his own party loathe him for delivering Brexit.
Others harbour grudges because they’ve been ditched, demoted or ignored.
Some are enraged by his unique ability to defy political wisdom, pulling off more comebacks than Frank Sinatra.
And some are driven by the most basic of human emotions, envy.
While he might be many things, Johnson is neither toast nor a dead man walking.
Will he, one day, be bundled out of office? Probably. Is that in the immediate future? No. Because nothing has changed.