The steady erosion of support within his own party continues for the UK Prime Minister many refer to as BoJo the Clown:
Boris Johnson’s desperate efforts to save his premiership were undermined on Saturday as one of his most loyal backbench supporters said it was now “inevitable” that Tory MPs would remove him from office over the “partygate” scandal.
In an interview with the Observer, Sir Charles Walker, a former vice-chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs, implored the prime minister to go of his own accord in the national interest, and likened events in the Tory party to a Greek tragedy.
“It is an inevitable tragedy,” Walker said. “He is a student of Greek and Roman tragedy. It is going to end in him going, so I just want him to have some agency in that.” [snip]
Walker is understood not to have submitted a letter of no confidence in Johnson himself. But on Saturday night Tory backbenchers who have been trying to “crunch numbers” said they thought those wanting to ditch Johnson were only 10 to 20 short of the 54 letters that need to be submitted to the chair of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.
Some Conservative MPs said they believed about 40 to 45 letters were in or pending, while another estimate that was circulating suggested the number was closer to the “early 30s”.
The Observer understands that several MPs who have yet to go public are likely to put in letters early this week, before MPs go away for a 10-day recess on Thursday. “The recess would be a time for the prime minister to regroup so there will be an incentive to get the names in before then,” said one Tory source. (our emphasis)
Or, to put it more directly, in the language of former Johnson cabinet minister David Davis, "in the name of God, go!" We'll see if Johnson takes the exit ramp before the "inevitable tragedy."
(Cartoon: Dave Brown/ The Independent/ UK)
