PM ‘remains an electoral asset’ says Cabinet minister
BORIS Johnson will use the Queen’s Speech as an effort to secure his leadership following a bruising set of local elections which saw the Tories lose control of key authorities and suffer a net loss of more than 400 councillors.
The speech on Tuesday, setting out the Government’s priorities, would focus on the economy, health and national security, Cabinet Minister Nadhim Zahawi said as he urged Tory MPs to rally round the Prime Minister.
Mr Zahawi insisted the Prime Minister, who delivered
2019’s
General Election landslide, remained an electoral asset to the Tories despite issues in Number 10 and Westminster being blamed for the local defeats inflicted on the party.
The loss of Wandsworth and Westminster in London to Labour, after decades of Tory control, and significant defeats to the Liberal Democrats in southern heartlands such as Woking, could persuade more MPs to submit letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister. The partygate row, which has seen Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak fined for breaching coronavirus laws, scandals involving MPs Neil Parish and Imran Ahmad Khan, and the cost-of-living crisis, all contributed to a difficult set of results for the Prime
Minister. In a message to Tory colleagues, the Education Secretary said: “People don’t like to vote for split parties, for teams that are divided.
“We are strongest when we are united, we’ve got a Queen’s Speech next week where we will demonstrate to the nation that the second half of this Parliament is all about dealing with repairing the economy, recovering from Covid, the backlog of the NHS, and national security – here at home, safer streets – and, of course, abroad.
He told Sky News that Mr Johnson “absolutely” remained an electoral asset.