BORIS WINS...BUT BAD OMENS FROM HISTORY
BORIS JOHNSON RESULT:
■ Voted for: 211 (58.8%)
■ Voted against: 148 (41.2%)
WHAT HAPPENS NOW:
Despite winning a smaller percentage majority than Theresa May, Boris Johnson last night declared he was ‘pleased’ with the ‘extremely good’ outcome. He vowed to use the narrow win to ‘bash on’ with delivering on the priorities of the electorate.
THERESA MAY
■ Date: Dec 12, 2018
WHY IT HAPPENED:
48 letters of no confidence received
RESULT:
■ Voted for: 200 (63.1%)
■ Voted against: 117 (36.9%)
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
To get the backing of her MPs, Mrs May had to promise to step down after getting a Brexit deal through Parliament. But that never happened, and she was gone in seven months.
IAIN DUNCAN SMITH
■ Date: Oct 29, 2003
WHY IT HAPPENED:
25 letters of no confidence received
RESULT:
■ Voted against: 90 (55%)
■ Voted for: 75 (45%)
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
Mr Duncan Smith resigned that night and Michael Howard was elected unopposed.
JOHN MAJOR
■ Date: July 4, 1995
WHY IT HAPPENED:
Resigned as Tory leader to force a challenge
RESULT:
■ John Major: 218 (66.3%)
■ John Redwood: 89 (27.1 %)
■ Abstentions/spoilt: 22 (6.6 %)
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
Major had tried to flush out his rivals by demanding they ‘Put up or shut up’, and Welsh Secretary John Redwood had put himself forward. He said he would resign if he received fewer than 215 votes and he limped on for two years.
MARGARET THATCHER
■ Date: Nov 20, 1990
WHY IT HAPPENED:
Challenge by former defence secretary Michael Heseltine
RESULT:
■ Margaret Thatcher: 204 (54.8%)
■ Michael Heseltine: 152 (40.9 per cent)
■ Abstentions: 16 (4.3%)
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT:
Mrs Thatcher was badly wounded by Michael Heseltine’s high level of support in the first ballot, which occurred when she was attending a summit in Paris. Although she received more votes, the rules at the time stated she needed to garner 15 per cent more than her rival to avoid a second ballot. The day after she declared: ‘I fight on, I fight to win’, but her support was ebbing away and she quit on November 22, 1990.