Confirmation that Boris Johnson will face a vote of no confidence came on Monday morning, but he is not the first Conservative leader to have faced one, or a leadership contest. Here is a roundup of the former party leaders who have faced no-confidence votes or leadership challenges, as well as the outcome.
Theresa May
May faced a vote of no confidence in December 2018 after she lost the support of Tory colleagues on whether she would be able to deliver a Brexit deal as prime minister. Although May survived the vote by 200 votes to 117, she later resigned following the European parliament election in May 2019, in which the Brexit party gained 28 seats and the Conservative party won just three. In her resignation speech she said it would remain “a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit”.
Iain Duncan Smith
Duncan Smith, the then leader of the opposition, faced a no-confidence vote in 2003 following reports that he was unelectable, and due to an investigation by the parliamentary watchdog into his employment of his wife as his diary secretary. Duncan Smith lost the confidence vote by 90 votes to 75, forcing him to resign two years after taking over from William Hague.
John Major
In June 1995, Major triggered a leadership contest against himself in order to face off Eurosceptic critics within his party. He was re-elected as leader, beating the only other candidate, John Redwood, the former secretary of state for Wales. Major went on to contend the 1997 general election, losing to Labour’s landslide victory of 418 seats under Tony Blair.
Margaret Thatcher
Thatcher became the only prime minister to be removed from office by a party leadership ballot in November 1990. Despite having faced down a challenge from the Europhile backbencher Anthony Meyer the previous year, Thatcher was challenged again by Michael Heseltine. Although Thatcher won by 204votes to 152, this was not enough to avoid a second vote under the rules at the time. She was eventually persuaded that she would not win a second vote and stood down.
Edward Heath
After the loss of a general election to the Labour party in October 1974, Heath agreed with the 1922 Committee to hold a leadership contest in February 1975. He stood aside following the first ballot, after he unexpectedly finished behind Thatcher.
