Boris Johnson rebuffed calls for him to resign over alleged breaches of lockdown rules — including one from a former cabinet colleague — as party loyalists made a concerted effort to rally support for the British premier.
Johnson battled through his weekly interrogation in Parliament on Wednesday moments after one of his own MPs defected to the opposition Labour Party. The premier was loudly cheered by his party faithful as he batted away questions about whether he should resign.
“I expect my leaders to shoulder responsibility for the actions they take,” ex-Cabinet minister and Johnson’s former Brexit ally David Davis told the House of Commons. “In the name of God, go!”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Johnson replied, to cheers.
Today’s exchanges may ease the immediate pressure on Johnson to step down. Several Tory MPs said the heated nature of Davis’s intervention and Christian Wakeford’s defection may encourage doubters to now fall in line behind the prime minister. Others sought to point out the vocal support the prime minister enjoyed from his backbenchers.
“You saw an enormously confident performance from the Prime Minister,” Conservative MP Matt Warman told Sky News. “You saw a wall of noise in support of him. That is the reality of the Tory benches.”
Still, Johnson’s longer-term position remains perilous. Many MPs are furious about his handling of claims that he and his staff held parties in Downing Street during the pandemic, a time when such gatherings were banned.
Conservative MPs have also been spooked by the sudden collapse in support for the party. A new poll by JL Partners for Channel 4 News showed support has plummeted in red wall seats across England’s north and Midlands. Labour now has an 11-point lead in the areas it traditionally held but which flipped to Johnson’s Tories in 2019.
Asked whether it was time for him to resign, Johnson replied: “No.” He said he apologized “sincerely” for “any misjudgments that were made” over alleged gatherings, and it was right to wait for the conclusion of an inquiry by senior civil servant Sue Gray.
Directly addressing the defecting MP — Wakeford, who represents the seat of Bury South and who dramatically took his seat on the Labour benches — Johnson said: “We will win again in Bury South at the next election under this prime minister.”
A no-confidence vote would be triggered if 54 Tory MPs send letters to a key committee calling for Johnson to resign — but the number of letters submitted is a closely guarded secret. Several MPs have publicly said they have sent letters already, but many are expected to have done so privately.
Johnson declined to comment when asked about his future on his way to a meeting in the House of Lords. Asked whether the prime minister would “stand and fight” any leadership challenge, his “press secretary told reporters in a regular briefing: “Yes.”
Later, Johnson announced that COVID-19 restrictions in England will soon be eased — a move that has long been called for by many Conservative MPs concerned at the impact on people’s freedoms. Johnson said people will no longer be asked to work from home and rules forcing people to wear face masks in shops and on public transport would be dropped from Jan. 27.
