British Prime Minister Boris Johnson narrowly won a vote of no confidence on Monday evening provoked by a revolt from his Conservative Party after the “partygate” scandal, very drunken parties organized in his Downing Street residence during confinement. Boris Johnson obtained 211 votes from Conservative MPs in his favor against 148 asking for his departure. The vote was by secret ballot. This victory allows Boris Johnson to remain leader of the party and save his post as head of government, but the British Prime Minister comes out very weak after this vote.
The slingers have therefore lost for the moment but the future is very uncertain for their leader. Boris Johnson was trying to put on a good face on Monday evening: “I think this is a convincing result. Decisivedid he declare. It means that as government we can move on and focus on what really matters to people. Of course I understand that what we need now is to come together. This is exactly what we can do now. It gives us the opportunity to put behind us all those stories that the media loves and do our job: help all the people of this country in everything we do. To move this country forward.“
Boris Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May had suffered the same kind of vote at the end of 2018 and had come out better, she had gathered the confidence of 200 Conservative deputies out of 317, while 117 were in favor of her dismissal. She ended up resigning a few weeks later. His position had become untenable.