54 Letters

Knowing the Tory party they will close ranks and consolidate their policies before the next General Election. I can’t however see Boris leading them into the next election. Looking at the votes he had 59% tonight, compared with 66% when he came to power which is food for thought.

I agree Whitewave. I think it will come as a surprise to all, even those who voted against him.

PMQs will be interesting. Keir Starmer's address was a strong one. Just watching Johnson on Sky. Not good. Then the two byelections next week.

I agree. This was not, as some Johnson allies claim, an organised coup rallying behind a designated challenger. 148 Tory MPs would rather have anyone else and that's damning.

Yes, and in a way what is more impressive is that this was not an organised campaign.

Dead man walking…

The 148 is at the highest end of what most commentators and rebels expected.

Casdon

growstuff

It's a secret ballot, so unless there's a leak or your MP comes clean, you won't know how he/she has voted.

Most MPs do seem to be stating which way they are voting though - presumably because they feel their constituents want and deserve to know. It will be interesting to see if there’s a mismatch between what they say and what they vote.

I've been reading the comments on my local Facebook page. Apart from a couple of diehard Conservatives, every one of hundreds of comments want Johnson to resign, which contradicts the MP's tweet. She also said that she spoke with constituents at the weekend, but nobody spotted her at any of the Jubilee events which took place, so I don't know where she met them. Presumably, she thinks her 30,000 majority is safe!

True growstuff. What they say publicly and what they do in secret may differ.

Sky reported earlier that 130 MPs have remained silent on their intentions.

Also, Professor Vernon Bogdanor, King's College London said earlier that if Johnson win's tonight's vote but divides the party so much that it proves hard to govern, that the 1922 Committee can change the rules so have another vote before another year has passed.

growstuff

It's a secret ballot, so unless there's a leak or your MP comes clean, you won't know how he/she has voted.

Most MPs do seem to be stating which way they are voting though - presumably because they feel their constituents want and deserve to know. It will be interesting to see if there’s a mismatch between what they say and what they vote.

It's a secret ballot, so unless there's a leak or your MP comes clean, you won't know how he/she has voted.

I fear he will survive for want of anything better and lack of Tory spines but he is just about the worst we have ever had. If my MP votes for him I won't be voting for my MP again!

This is a document said to have been passed around by Tory MPs with arguments for getting rid of Johnson. Adam Payne, on twitter says:

Tory MPs who want Johnson out have this weekend been circulating a briefing document setting out why. It warns the party is on course to lose the next election & concludes “the only way to end this misery, earn a hearing from the British public… is to remove Boris Johnson as PM”

For those who have twitter it is twitter.com/adampayne26/status/153347683686017025 here]]

Interestingly, it's all about what happens to the Party, not the country.

LizzieDrip

^In many respects, I wish the controversy wasn't so focussed on the illegal gatherings but focussed more on a long career based on deception^

I agree! The man is a long-term serial liar - proven, over many years, to be deeply untrustworthy, in both his private and professional lives. He is a flawed character, yet the Tories elected him as their leader knowing this. He does not deserve to lead this country. I suppose ‘Partygate’ has become the final straw but, I too, wish people would focus on the bigger picture of Johnson’s lies stretching back many, many years.

I agree too.

In many respects, I wish the controversy wasn't so focussed on the illegal gatherings but focussed more on a long career based on deception

I agree! The man is a long-term serial liar - proven, over many years, to be deeply untrustworthy, in both his private and professional lives. He is a flawed character, yet the Tories elected him as their leader knowing this. He does not deserve to lead this country. I suppose ‘Partygate’ has become the final straw but, I too, wish people would focus on the bigger picture of Johnson’s lies stretching back many, many years.

What's stopped him making the NHS more efficient since he became PM?

Johnson’s real plan has never been to improve the NHS. It is in his best interests for the NHS to be publicly failing, so that the Tories can claim it is ‘irretrievably broken’ and therefore must be privatised! Of course, he will maintain his facade of lies to the British people about new hospitals etc. in order to keep us ‘on his side’. The man really does think we’re stupid???

According to the New Statesman, we should be looking for votes against between 120 and 150, assuming he will not lose. When scaled up, 121 equals those who voted against Major, 133 equals the proportion voting against May, and 147 represents those voting against Thatcher.

May and Thatcher were both forced to resign shortly thereafter – May announced her resignation within six months; Thatcher within 48 hours. Major clung on until the 1997 general election, an outcome no Tory MP can look back on creditably: the party lost 178 MPs of its 343 MPs.

Interestingly, the author, Harry Lambert, believes it is easier to get near to 180 than it was to get the required number of letters in. He reasons that this is a "for or against" vote. MPs cannot simply fail to support Johnson, as many have been doing.

I'm struck by the Twitter LedByDonkeys film which provides a potted history of his lies and misdemeanours over the decades. In many respects, I wish the controversy wasn't so focussed on the illegal gatherings but focussed more on a long career based on deception. Sadly, I think he will survive the vote and we will be stuck with him until the next GE.

I was pondering again today whilst pottering about in the garden and it dawned on me that if a Labour PM did half of the things that Johnson has done the electorate would be screaming that the communists had taken over….

Jesse Norman MP is married to Kate Bingham who organised the vaccine rollout.

Goodness, David Davis has aged/does not look well.

Rees Mogg says it only needs a majority of one to win the no confidence vote. True.

The unnamed Tory MP arrested on 16 May on charges of indecent assault, sexual assault, rape, abuse of position of trust and misconduct in public office has not had the whip withdrawn. He will be able to vote by proxy. Innocent until proven guilty, of course, but there would be an irony in a one vote victory.

DaisyAnne

United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion John Penrose has resigned because he believed it appeared Johnson had broken the Ministerial Code.

That's interesting. John Penrose is Dido Harding's husband.

A lot of people have asked what happened to £37billion for the never particularly successful Test & Trace...

All these people who had no trouble with conniving at Johnson's corrupt government suddenly coming out of the woodwork is a bit

Jacob Rees-Mogg blaming Brexit and the "po-faced" brigade who don't like Johnson's character. Such a nice man

United Kingdom Anti-Corruption Champion John Penrose has resigned because he believed it appeared Johnson had broken the Ministerial Code.

Whitewavemark2

Sums it up in one letter

Jesse Norman is Kate Bingham's husband. I wonder what he thinks when Johnson takes the credit for the vaccine roll out.