British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a crucial week. His standing is more shaky than ever after weeks of revealing the lockdown parties at his official residence. His fate is now tied to an investigation into the parties by civil servant Sue Gray, whose findings will be presented next week.
especially that Bring your own boozeThe party in 2020 sparked a lot of anger. It happened at a time when the British government had imposed a strict lockdown on the entire country. Social contact had to be avoided as much as possible and large group gatherings were banned. Citizens were allowed to meet a maximum of one person outside their circle in the open air.
Crooked and half-hearted apologies
The Prime Minister has since admitted that he was present at one of the parties, although he thought it was a business meeting. Also defend He himself said “Nobody told me it was against the rules,” while he made the rules himself.
Members of his Conservative party are unhappy with their leader’s fickleness and half-hearted apologies. Even a handful of conservatives are publicly calling for his departure. “For God’s sake, I’m leaving,” David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, said during a House of Commons session on Wednesday.
When 54 Conservative MPs sign a letter denouncing their confidence in the prime minister, it leads to a vote of confidence. The Conservative House of Commons faction will then have to decide whether it wants to continue with Johnson as leader.
There is only one party official who knows exactly how many messages have been delivered, but for now, he keeps this carefully secret. British media have speculated that between 15 and 30 Conservative MPs delivered a letter early this week.
election promises
Dissatisfaction was greater among the group of conservatives who were first elected in 2019. They represent the so-called red wallRegions in northern and central England, old industrial estates that served as Labor strongholds for decades, but came into the hands of the Conservatives in the 2019 election.
Johnson attracted many disaffected Labor voters in these counties with two election promises: Get Britain out of the European Union in a leveling up. He quickly fulfilled the first promise when he struck a deal with Brussels on the British withdrawal. his second promise, leveling upJohnson announced major government investments to revitalize degraded industrial zones.
Conservative MPs representing these provinces fear that the latest promise will be fulfilled with little further progress after the prime minister is embroiled in a scandal. about twenty red wallBritish media said MPs were involved in a coup attempt to oust Johnson from the throne.
Dissent from the opposition
One Conservative MP, Christian Wakeford, did not wait. He decided to split from the Labor Party on Wednesday. To the cheers and hissing of his Conservative party members, Wakeford crossed into the opposition benches just before question time, taking an ostensible seat behind Labor leader Keir Starmer.
Reporter Fleur Lunsbach measured sentiment in Bury South, MP Christian Wakeford’s constituency:
