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Today in Focus

Boris Johnson’s narrow vote of confidence

Today in Focus

The Guardian

News, Daily News

4.65.9K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2022

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Boris Johnson won a vote of confidence yesterday – but he suffered a massive rebellion from parliamentary colleagues. Political correspondent Peter Walker explains what happens now. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus

Transcript

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0:00.0

This is the Guardian.

0:09.1

Today, Boris Johnson has survived a vote of no confidence.

0:14.0

Just.

0:15.0

For months now, Boris Johnson has been anticipating that members of his own party would try to get rid of him.

0:35.0

It was in December last year as the first party gate stories emerged that Tory MPs, just a few, started to suggest he should resign.

0:45.0

They wrote letters of no confidence to the party's backbench committee.

0:49.0

Those letters are going in, are they, to the 1922 committee?

0:53.0

I would not be a bit surprised if people didn't start to write some of those letters.

0:58.0

And as more stories about parties emerged.

1:01.0

I believed implicitly that this was a work event.

1:05.0

More MPs stated publicly that they couldn't stick by him.

1:09.0

So, grateful he had to see that his position is no longer tenable.

1:14.0

Regretfully, he looks like a liability and I think he either goes now or he goes in three years' time at a general election.

1:20.0

You were sat there too long for all the good you have done in the name of God, God, God, God.

1:25.0

And then this happened.

1:27.0

It is being reported that the Prime Minister is among those who has been fined for breaches of COVID regulations.

1:35.0

And in late May, when Sue Gray released her report into party gate, more Tory MPs joined the rebellion.

1:43.0

Breaking news that another Conservative MP has broken ranks, Alicia Kens handed in a letter of no confidence.

1:49.0

The former cabinet minister, Andrea Ledsam, has strongly criticised Boris Johnson.

1:54.0

Until finally, the threshold of 15% of the parliamentary party seeking a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister has been passed.

2:03.0

At least 54 rebel MPs had written letters of no confidence.

2:07.0

That's 15% of the parliamentary Conservative party, enough to trigger a vote on whether Johnson can stay on as leader of this country.

...

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