Michael Howard wants Johnson out. But are any Tories brave enough to push him?
Former Tory leader Lord (Michael) Howard has said Tory ministers should follow Oliver Dowden’s example and quit, to push Boris Johnson out of Downing Street.
Alternatively, backbenchers on the 1922 Committee should change the rules by which they hold a confidence vote so they can have another one before the currently-stipulated year’s delay ends, he has said.
But are either ministers or backbenchers up to the challenge?
Tory MPs are notoriously timid about unseating a leader, especially when there is no obvious replacement – and none current presents him- or herself because Johnson’s cabinet is full of incompetents and people of questionable mentality.
But with Johnson determined to ignore the meaning of the election results and pretend that people want him to continue on a course that has been disastrous for the UK (as satirised in the image above), it seems they will soon run out of alternatives.
Lord Howard said: “[Mr Johnson’s] biggest asset has always been his ability to win votes but I’m afraid [the by-election] results make it clear that he no longer has that ability.
“I think [the by-election defeats] makes clear that my view is shared by very large numbers of people in Yorkshire and Devon – places so different that I think they can reasonably be regarded as representative of the country as a whole.”
After the by-election results became known, 1922 Committee treasurer Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said MPs would need to hear what Johnson had to say before making a decision.
Well, we’ve all heard it. Now it’s time for MPs to act.
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