‘Partygate’: Johnson’s removal is now inevitable, warns loyalist
More MPs set to submit resignation demands as No 10 rejigs team
www.theguardian.com
‘Partygate’: Johnson’s removal is now inevitable, warns loyalist
More MPs set to submit resignation demands as No 10 rejigs team
Boris Johnson’s desperate efforts to save his premiership were undermined on Saturday as one of his most loyal backbench supporters said it was now “inevitable” that Tory MPs would remove him from office over the “partygate” scandal.
In an interview with the Observer, Sir Charles Walker, a former vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, implored the prime minister to go of his own accord in the national interest, and likened events in the Tory party to a Greek tragedy.
“It is an inevitable tragedy,” Walker said. “He is a student of Greek and Roman tragedy. It is going to end in him going, so I just want him to have some agency in that.”
Walker, who announced at the start of the month that he was stepping down as an MP, said that in his view Johnson had got many things right, including the handling of the vaccine rollout, and deserved to be remembered for them, rather than suffer the indignity of losing a leadership challenge.
But he said the succession of parties in Downing Street during national lockdowns had focused the anger of a traumatised country on No 10 in a way that could only be addressed if the prime minister moved aside. “It is just not going to get better,” he said.
On Saturday night, Johnson moved to shore up his operation at No 10 – which was rocked by the resignations of five of his key aides last week – by the appointment of the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Steve Barclay, as his chief of staff and Guto Harri, who worked for him when Johnson was mayor of London, as his director of communications.
The appointment of an MP to be chief of staff is highly unusual and suggests Johnson may have faced problems in recruiting an outsider to the role at a time when many in Whitehall doubt he will last much longer in No 10.
Harri’s appointment is also a surprise as he has strongly criticised Johnson in recent years, including saying in 2018 that he would be “hugely divisive” as prime minister.
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: “Boris Johnson is panicking as he frantically rearranges deckchairs. The prime minister has clearly run out of serious people willing to serve under his chaotic and incompetent leadership so now expects a cabinet minister to be his chief of staff.”
Walker is understood not to have submitted a letter of no confidence in Johnson himself. But on Saturday night Tory backbenchers who have been trying to “crunch numbers” said they thought those wanting to ditch Johnson were only 10 to 20 short of the 54 letters that need to be submitted to the chair of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.
Some Conservative MPs said they believed about 40 to 45 letters were in or pending, while another estimate that was circulating suggested the number was closer to the “early 30s”.
The Observer understands that several MPs who have yet to go public are likely to put in letters early this week, before MPs go away for a 10-day recess on Thursday. “The recess would be a time for the prime minister to regroup so there will be an incentive to get the names in before then,” said one Tory source.
The Tory MP for Wimbledon and former minister, Stephen Hammond, said he was “considering very carefully this weekend” whether he still had confidence in the prime minister and added that it “certainly looks like” the beginning of the end for Johnson.
If and when Brady receives 54 letters, he would then consult the prime minister on when a vote of confidence among all Tory MPs should take place. If Johnson failed to win a majority, he would have to stand down.
On Saturday night, Johnson moved to shore up his operation at No 10 – which was rocked by the resignations of five of his key aides last week – by the appointment of the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Steve Barclay, as his chief of staff and Guto Harri, who worked for him when Johnson was mayor of London, as his director of communications.
The appointment of an MP to be chief of staff is highly unusual and suggests Johnson may have faced problems in recruiting an outsider to the role at a time when many in Whitehall doubt he will last much longer in No 10.
Harri’s appointment is also a surprise as he has strongly criticised Johnson in recent years, including saying in 2018 that he would be “hugely divisive” as prime minister.
Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: “Boris Johnson is panicking as he frantically rearranges deckchairs. The prime minister has clearly run out of serious people willing to serve under his chaotic and incompetent leadership so now expects a cabinet minister to be his chief of staff.”
Walker is understood not to have submitted a letter of no confidence in Johnson himself. But on Saturday night Tory backbenchers who have been trying to “crunch numbers” said they thought those wanting to ditch Johnson were only 10 to 20 short of the 54 letters that need to be submitted to the chair of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.
Some Conservative MPs said they believed about 40 to 45 letters were in or pending, while another estimate that was circulating suggested the number was closer to the “early 30s”.
The Observer understands that several MPs who have yet to go public are likely to put in letters early this week, before MPs go away for a 10-day recess on Thursday. “The recess would be a time for the prime minister to regroup so there will be an incentive to get the names in before then,” said one Tory source.
The Tory MP for Wimbledon and former minister, Stephen Hammond, said he was “considering very carefully this weekend” whether he still had confidence in the prime minister and added that it “certainly looks like” the beginning of the end for Johnson.
If and when Brady receives 54 letters, he would then consult the prime minister on when a vote of confidence among all Tory MPs should take place. If Johnson failed to win a majority, he would have to stand down.
