Two red wall Conservative MPs have voiced early support for the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, after a vote of no confidence in his leadership was announced this morning. Both MPs, who won traditional Labour seats in 2019's general election, criticised their fellow party members for triggering the vote, which will take place this evening.
The vote of no confidence was confirmed by Altrincham and Sale West MP and chair of the 1922 committee, Sir Graham Brady, this morning, with a press release stating that the threshold for 15 per cent of the Conservative party seeking a vote of no confidence had been met. Heywood and Middleton's Chris Clarkson and Leigh's James Grundy have offered their full support to Mr Johnson via social media, despite both holding slim majorities in their seats.
The number of letters received from Sir Brady has been steadily rising amid backlash to the 'Partygate' scandal and scathing Sue Grey report which outlined a culture law breaking in Number 10 during Covid-19 lockdowns. The government's response to the cost-of-living crisis has also contributed to diminishing confidence in Boris Johnson's leadership.
READ MORE: LIVE: Boris Johnson will face vote of confidence TODAY and could be ousted as Prime Minister
Mr Clarkson, who won his Heywood and Middleton seat by just 663 votes from Labour, is heavily critical of his Tory colleagues. In a Tweet, he said: "Absolutely crackers.
"This is a handful of malcontents who haven't provided and coherent alternative plan for the country (unless you count Tobias Ellwood's call to ignore the referendum result) - it's an exercise is ego fluffing and it'll only help Labour." This Tweet has been followed by several retweets of other Tories backing Mr Johnson.
Mr Clarkson was the first to outline their position on tonight's vote, shortly followed by Leigh MP James Grundy. Mr Grundy is another new MP from the 2019 General Election who took a traditional Labour 'red wall' seat, with many putting these victories down to Mr Johnson's strengths at the time of promising to 'Level Up' the north and 'Get Brexit Done'.
He took to Facebook criticising the vote, labelling it an 'establishment coup' with a picture of himself and the Prime Minister. He said: "Call me old fashioned, but I believe that the Prime Minister should be chosen by the British people in a General Election, not by some bloke called Rupert and his mates in an oak panelled gentleman's club in London via an establishment coup. 100% backing Boris."
These are the only two of Greater Manchester's eight Tory MPs to come out in support of Mr Johnson so far. Sir Brady, MP for Altrincham and Sale West, who chair's the 1922 committee where MPs submitted letter's of no confidence, is highly unlikely to make any comments because of this.
Sir Brady told reporters in Westminster that Boris Johnson was informed last night that the threshold to trigger a vote had been reached. He said some colleagues had post-dated their letters until after the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
He told reporters in Westminster: “I notified the Prime Minister yesterday that the threshold had been reached. We agreed the timetable for the confidence vote to take place and he shared my view – which is also in line with the rules that we have in place – that that vote should happen as soon as could reasonably take place and that would be today.”
He refused to confirm how many letters had been received or when the threshold had been passed but said “it is slightly complicated because some colleagues had asked specifically that it should not be until the end of the Jubilee celebrations”. He did, however, acknowledge that Mr Johnson will not necessarily be safe even if he survives tonight’s vote.
Although the Conservative committee’s rules say there could not be another confidence vote for 12 months, Sir Graham said those procedures could be changed. “Technically it’s possible for rules to be changed but the rule at present is there would be a period of grace,” he told reporters.
The last Prime Minister to face a vote of no confidence was Theresa May, who despite surviving the vote, stepped down less than six months later.
