Johnson is in the eye of the storm following revelations of parties organized in Downing Street when the UK was facing COVID lockdown.
British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, faces strong pressure to resign, both from his conservative ranks and from the opposition, due to the party scandal at his official residence during the pandemic and which has led this Wednesday to a Tory MP to go over to Labour.
At the weekly Prime Minister’s Question Session in the House of Commons, the Conservative leader today dodged all questions from MPs about the controversial social gatherings that took place in Downing Street in 2020, when the United Kingdom maintained movement restrictions to contain covid-19.
Johnson asked today to wait for the conclusions of the investigation by official Sue Gray, in charge of establishing what happened at 10 Downing Street and if the prime minister knew that these were social events and not work appointments.
The most surprising moment of the session, which suffered several interruptions due to the repeated shouting of the deputies, came when Conservative MP David Davis, a former Brexit minister and staunch Johnson ally, told him: “In the name of God, go away.”
Conservative joined Labor
But the biggest blow against Johnson came minutes before the start of the control session in Parliament, when Conservative MP Christian Wakeford, from the Bury South constituency in northern England, announced that he had gone over to Labour.
Labor leader Keir Starmer said Wakeford had concluded that the prime minister “has shown that he is incapable of providing the leadership and government that the country deserves”.
However, the Prime Minister was defiant, stating that the Conservatives “will win Bury South again”.
Wakeford’s departure is particularly significant as he was part of the group of Conservative MPs who won – in the 2019 election– constituencies in the north of England that had traditionally been held by Labour, an area dubbed the ‘red wall’ (by Labour).
Measures to prevent their departure
Although the “premier” has repeatedly apologized, the opposition parties and several conservative deputies demand that Johnson present his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II, head of state.
Starmer went so far as to call Johnson’s “incredible excuses” about whether or not he was aware of the parties, especially since there were “bottles (of wine) and plates of sandwiches.”
Under these strong pressures, Johnson sought to counteract this situation with the announcement of the removal of restrictive measures – known as Plan B – set at the end of 2021 in England to stop the rapid spread of the omicron variant.
Possible impeachment process
It is not ruled out that the anger in the conservative ranks will translate into an internal process to remove Johnson as leader.
According to the media, the so-called 1922 Committee, which brings together conservative parliamentarians without portfolio, has already received some letters from deputies in which they state that they do not trust the leader of their party, but a total of 54 letters are needed for the process that decides Johnson’s future goes ahead.
Apparently, several MPs from the north of England met yesterday to Analyze the steps and it is possible that the 1922 Committee will receive the 54 necessary letters this Wednesday.
If so, the president of this powerful 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, will be forced to notify Johnson of the beginning of the internal process, which will have to decide whether or not to continue as leader.
The 54 cards represent 15% of the Conservative MPs. (I)
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