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Boris Johnson survives a crunch confidence vote as Conservative MPs vote by 211 to 148 to keep him as leader as far north MP Jamie Stone slams ballot 'enabling this bumbling, bluffing, blundering buffoon of a Prime Minister to continue on in Number 10'


By Scott Maclennan

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairing his first Cabinet meeting in Downing Street back in 2019.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson chairing his first Cabinet meeting in Downing Street back in 2019.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has survived a confidence vote of Conservative MPs.

The ballot was called this morning after the requisite number of letters were sent to the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs.

And when 54 or more letters expressing a lack of confidence in Mr Johnson's leadership a vote was triggered.

Despite being under pressure for months over the so-called Partygate affair when parties were held in No 10 during the strict lockdowns of 2020.

Further allegations that Mr Johnson lied to parliament about the issue deepened the political storm.

But with the Met Police issuing 126 fines to 83 people, including the Prime Minister and the Chancellor pressure built further.

A steady trickle of letters were sent to the 1922 Committee was sparked by the publication of the Sue Gray report at the end of May.

In all at least six of eight Scottish Tory MPs voted against Mr Johnson, including the Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross.

It was another u-turn of Mr Ross' position who had previously resigned from the cabinet over Dominic Cummings own alleged rule breaking.

He said: “Having listened closely to people in Moray who re-elected me to represent them, and from many people across Scotland, now that this confidence vote is upon us, I cannot in good faith support Boris Johnson.

“My vote tonight will support the motion of no confidence.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Jamie Stone, said after the vote: "People in the Far North are suffering from rocketing bills and a cost of living crisis. The union of the United Kingdom is more fragile than ever. Meanwhile the Prime Minister has been focussed on one thing only: saving his own skin.

"Conservative MPs made a grave mistake today. Enabling this bumbling, bluffing, blundering buffoon of a Prime Minister to continue on in Number 10 shows a level of contempt for the British public I never thought I would witness during my time in politics. Today, the Conservative party have sent a strong message that they condone the law-breaking and lying that comes from the very top of our Government.

"The rest of us must now endure whatever the next 12 months brings us. But voters will not forget, nor will they forgive the Conservatives for hammering them with tax rises when they were at their most vulnerable and holding law-breaking parties when they couldn't even visit dying relatives."

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