Boris Johnson was reeling as his own 100 MPs on Tuesday broke ranks. (File)
London, UK:
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday faced another key test of his leadership with a by-election in his party’s always-won constituency, which lost will increase calls for a new leader.
Johnson, 57, was reeling after about 100 of his own MPs on Tuesday broke ranks and voted against the government’s plan to introduce vaccination cards for major events.
It comes after a harsh few weeks for the leader, whose power has been plagued by corruption allegations and reports that he and his staff broke coronavirus restrictions by Christmas. last year.
In normal times, a by-election in England’s rural constituency in North Shropshire would be a form for Johnson’s Conservative Party, which has never lost a seat.
The constituency, with just over 80,000 voters, returned its last Tory lawmaker with a 23,000 majority.
But before the polls open at 07:00 GMT, Johnson is struggling to convince many to keep backing him after weeks of bad headlines, leading to predictions of a historic loss. history.
The poll, which ends at 22:00 GMT, is increasingly seen as a referendum on Johnson’s prime ministership, just two years after his landslide general election victory in December. 2019.
Failure would likely see MPs begin sending letters of no-confidence towards their leader, which could trigger an intra-party vote to remove him.
The same process saw his predecessor Theresa May ousted in mid-2019 after MPs, including Johnson himself, voted against her Brexit deal in parliament.
The Liberal Democrats have the best chance of overturning the Conservative Party’s majority, thanks to Labor supporters lending their votes to mitigating Johnson’s political pain.
In the town of Whitchurch, Martin Hill, 68, who usually votes for Labour, told AFP: “I will vote for the Liberal Democrats because I am so offended by Johnson’s performance.
“It will be a tactical vote – I want to give Johnson a slap in the face,” the retired chemical engineer added, calling the prime minister “dishonest”.
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Some in Whitchurch, however, have sided with Johnson and are prepared to overlook the former mayor of London’s transgressions.
“I think Boris Johnson is actually a bit silly… like a naughty little schoolboy,” said Sue Parkinson, 67, who has voted Conservative for the past two decades.
“I don’t think it’s enough for us to say: ‘yes, we want a new leader right now’, because I think Boris has done an excellent job.”
The atmosphere is a far cry from May, when the Conservatives won an unprecedented election in Hartlepool, north-east England after producing a successful vaccine.
But the virus still dominates British life, and the emergence of the Omicron variant has once again deepened the pre-Christmas gloom.
Nearly 80,000 people tested positive for Covid-19 in a 24-hour period on Wednesday – the highest daily number since the pandemic hit Britain last year.
The UK is also suffering from spiraling inflation as a result of heavy borrowing during the lockdown, high energy prices and congested supply chains.
Johnson – who won overwhelming voter support in 2019 with his promise to “Get Brexit done” – has been plagued by controversy since the start of last month.
It began with his unsuccessful attempt to change parliamentary disciplinary rules to exempt North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson from being suspended after he was found to have breached lobbying rules. lang.
Paterson, who had held the seat since 1997, later resigned, forcing a by-election on Thursday.
However, that crisis was soon overshadowed by reports that Johnson and his staff broke Covid rules last year by throwing a number of Christmas parties – as well as publicity. They were asked to cancel their festival plans.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
