A Greater Manchester Conservative MP believes Boris Johnson has a fight on his hands to survive as the Prime Minister following a vote of no confidence. Despite winning the poll last on Monday (June 6) the pressure has not been taken off the PM as over 40 per cent of Conservative MPs said they had lost confidence in him.
Tory MPs voted by 211 to 148 to keep him as party leader and Prime Minister. The vote of no confidence was triggered after more than 54 MPs submitted letters of no confidence to Altrincham and Sale West MP, Sir Graham Brady, who chairs the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs.
While a number of Greater Manchester Tory MPs voiced their support to Boris Johnson before the vote, when contacted by the Manchester Evening News on their thoughts on the result, only two replied. This is despite senior Conservative figures, such as deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, saying that last night's vote should 'draw a line in the sand', and many Tories across the country posting their support.
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Bolton's two Conservative MPs, Chris Green and Mark Logan, were the only Conservatives across Greater Manchester to reply to a request for a comment. In the build up to last night's vote, Chris Green, MP for Bolton West, said it would be 'radio silence' from him.
However, Mr Green now says the PM has the 'greatest political challenge to survive, after facing a worse rebellion than former leader Theresa May, who resigned six months after she won a vote of no confidence. But he believes Boris Johnson does have the chance to redeem himself.
"The rebellion against the Prime Minister shocked the government by its scale and was far worse than the one that forced out Theresa May," he said. "Boris Johnson has the ability to redeem himself with a strong agenda on dealing with the cost of living crisis, cutting taxes and levelling up.
"He may need a radical reshuffle of his ministerial team to make it happen. His political future is in his hands and it is going to be the greatest political challenge to survive."
Bolton North East MP Mark Logan, who won his seat in the 2019 General Election with a majority of just 378, also believes there is work still to do for the PM despite his win in the vote of no confidence. He came out in support of the PM before the vote as 'now is not the time to create more uncertainty for the country'.
But, this did come with a blunt criticism of of the 'partygate' scandal. He said yesterday afternoon: "I was infuriated and disappointed like many of my constituents who contacted me in January about the Downing Street parties. A blatant disregard for the rules during the pandemic was absolutely unacceptable and reflected the overall culture within the No.10 operation.
"When I met with the Prime Minister in January 2022, as your elected representative, I wanted him to understand the gravity of his actions and the palpable anger amongst Boltonians. We deserved better. We deserved change. We deserved leadership."
Today, he emphasised his message of unity. He told the M.E.N: "The PM won the confidence vote, however it is clear that much needs to be done to bring our party and country together in a cause of unity. Our great country needs unity, not division. I have always been, and will continue to be, committed to bringing people together. It’s time to get back to delivering the people's priorities."
The other five Greater Manchester Conservative MPs, excluding Altrincham and Sale West's Sir Graham Brady who chairs the 1922 Committee, did not respond to a request for a comment at the time of writing. This is despite three of them - Heywood and Middleton's Chris Clarkson, Leigh's James Grundy, and Bury North's James Daly, publicly backing the PM in the vote's build up.
There has been no social media activity from James Daly, a post about the dropping of the Golborne Spur of HS2 being dropped from James Grundy, while Chris Clarkson has retweeted colleagues who congratulated the PM on winning the vote. MP for Cheadle, Mary Robinson, did not reply yesterday and has not today.
MP for Hazel Grove, William Wragg, has also been silent before and after the vote. Mr Wragg confirmed he had sent a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson late last year. He added that the Prime Minister was 'no longer fit to govern' during an April debate.
This all comes as Labour continues to ramp up the pressure on the Conservatives after the vote. Ashton-under-Lyne MP and Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, this morning said Boris Johnson is now 'mortally wounded. “I don’t think it is a good thing he continues, I think he is arrogant, I think he is dismissive, I think he is a liar and I don’t think he should hold the office of Prime Minister,” she told Sky News.
Ms Rayner also said her party would “consider all options” when asked if they would table a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson in Parliament.
