Boris Johnson has faced a no-confidence vote after 15 per cent of his own MPs said they could no longer support him.
Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, announced the vote on Monday morning. He said that the number of Conservative MPs to have submitted letters of no confidence in Mr Johnson had reached the threshold of 54, triggering a vote on his premiership.
The vote was held between 6pm and 8pm on Monday, with the ballots counted “immediately afterwards” and the result expected later that evening.
Almost 30 Tory MPs have publicly urged the prime minister to resign.
The latest MP to withdraw his support from the PM was former minister Jesse Norman, who said that the government under Mr Johnson’s leadership lacked “a sense of mission”.
How does a no-confidence vote work?
Under Conservative Party rules, a leadership contest is triggered when 15 per cent of the party’s MPs write to the 1922 Committee demanding a change in leader.
There are currently 359 serving Tory MPs, so 54 letters of no confidence were needed to trigger a ballot.
The letters are confidential and the only person who knows exactly how many have been submitted is committee chair Sir Graham.
How many votes does Boris Johnson need?
In the no-confidence vote on Monday, Tory MPs took part in a secret ballot on the future of the PM’s premiership.
They were faced with the choice of either voting to remove him or voting to keep him. Mr Johnson has to have secured over 50 per cent of the vote to survive – the equivalent of 180 MPs.
The vote took place in person and MPs personally placed their folded ballots in a ballot box. The vote was held in a committee room in Westminster.
If an MP was away then they were able to nominate a colleague to vote on their behalf.
What happens if Boris Johnson wins?
Even if Mr Johnson wins the no-confidence vote, he will still find himself in a very difficult position. Previous prime ministers have won confidence votes but resigned some months later because doubts in their leadership made it increasingly difficult to govern.
A lot would hang on by what margin Mr Johnson wins the vote. If the rebel MPs get 133 votes, that would be worse as a percentage than Theresa May managed in 2018 when she won her leadership challenge.
If the rebels get 147 votes then this would be worse than Margaret Thatcher managed in 1990 when she won a challenge from Michael Heseltine.
According to The Sun, Sir Graham has been taking soundings from other MPs about whether he could get rid of the one-year limit on new no-confidence votes.
Under the current rules, there is a ban on having another no-confidence vote in the PM for at least a year after the first vote.
However, it has been reported that Sir Graham is considering reducing the time limit to three or six months, or perhaps doing away with it all together.
This could be crucial for Mr Johnson as, even if he survives the no-confidence vote, he faces a by-election in Wakefield which the Tories will likely lose.
A disastrous result in Wakefield could renew questions about Mr Johnson’s leadership and increase chatter about whether there should be another no-confidence vote in his premiership.
Rebel MPs are also threatening to obstruct key parliamentary votes even if Mr Johnson survives the ballot, The Mail on Sunday reported.
If Mr Johnson does not secure a resounding win, MPs could refuse to vote on the government’s legislation until the PM quits, the paper said.
What happens if he loses?
If Mr Johnson loses the no-confidence vote then the Conservative party will choose a new leader.
Mr Johnson will be expected to continue as PM until a successor is picked, but if he decides he wants to leave immediately then deputy prime minister Dominic Raab would act as a caretaker PM.
Does a no-confidence vote trigger a general election?
A vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson would not trigger a general election – only a Tory leadership contest.
The next general election is expected to take place in May 2024, but a new leader could choose to call an one early.
How long would it take to choose a new PM?
A leadership battle could take a considerable amount of time. When Mr Johnson replaced Theresa May, the contest took two months.
Leadership contenders are whittled down by a series of votes among Tory MPs. Once there are two final candidates then it is put to a vote among Tory party members.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt is widely predicted to take another shot at the Tory leadership if Mr Johnson loses his vote.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss, Tom Tugendhat and Penny Mordaunt are also named as potential candidates in a future contest.
Will Boris Johnson still be an MP if he loses the vote?
Mr Johnson will still remain as an MP if he loses his vote.
He will have to step down as prime minister and his seniority as an MP will be decided by whoever wins the resulting leadership contest.
If he loses the vote, it is likely he will remain an experienced backbench MP – and won’t return to cabinet.
Will he get a pay cut?
Mr Johnson is currently entitled to an annual salary of £164,080. This is comprised of £79,936 for his role as PM and an additional £84,144 for being an MP.
If he has to resign as prime minister, he will have to forgo his ministerial salary. However Mr Johnson was making a considerable amount of money before he became prime minister from speaking arrangements and newspaper columns.
If he becomes a backbench MP he will be able to generate income in this way again.
The Sun reported that, before he became PM, Mr Johnson was paid £275,000 to write a weekly column for the Daily Telegraph.
