London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Aug 17, 2026

Boris Johnson calls Tory confidence ballot win decisive despite revolt

Boris Johnson calls Tory confidence ballot win decisive despite revolt

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has won the backing of a majority of Tory MPs in a confidence vote despite a significant revolt against his leadership.

The PM won 59% of the vote, meaning he is now immune from a Conservative leadership challenge for a year.

In all, 211 Tory MPs voted they had confidence in the PM's leadership while 148 voted against him.

Mr Johnson described his confidence vote win as "decisive".

Striking an upbeat tone, he said it was a "very good", "convincing" result and "an opportunity to put behind us all the stuff that the media goes on about".

The result sees the prime minister remain in office, but critics said the scale of the rebellion against him showed his authority had been weakened, with some calling on him to resign.

The vote share in support of Mr Johnson was lower than the 63% received by former Prime Minister Theresa May when she won a party confidence vote in 2018, before resigning six months later over a Brexit deadlock.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said a "divided" Conservative Party was "propping up" Mr Johnson after he survived the confidence vote.

And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said while Mr Johnson had clung on to power, "his reputation is in tatters and his authority is now totally shot".

But Downing Street said the result "renews the PM's mandate" and allows the government to "focus relentlessly on the issues that concern our voters".

Tory MP and Welsh Secretary Simon Hart told the BBC the prime minister "has lots to prove" but insisted the result "was pretty decisive".

Mr Johnson, who became prime minister in 2019, was informed he would face a vote on his leadership on Sunday during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, after weeks of speculation over his future.

The ballot was triggered by Conservative MPs after at least 15% of them wrote letters of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the party's backbench 1922 Committee.

Discontent among Tory MPs has grown since a highly critical report into lockdown parties in and near Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic was published last month.

The report laid bare the extent of Covid rule-breaking in Number 10, including at a birthday party Mr Johnson was fined by the police for attending in June 2020.

The fine meant Mr Johnson became the UK's first serving prime minister to be sanctioned for breaking the law.

Some Tory MPs have also expressed dissent over tax rises, the government's response to rising living costs and its policy direction.


Result won't end war to replace PM

An arithmetic win for Boris Johnson. But boy, look at those numbers.

The result showed 148 Conservative MPs think the country would be better off shot of him.

That's 148 Conservative MPs, not floating voters.

That is a far higher proportion of his MPs attempting to eject him than wanted rid of Theresa May when she faced a confidence vote. And she was gone within six months.

His supporters say the situation is very different now, but this vote means this issue won't go away. The result is at the upper end of the expectations of the rebels, who never expected to win.

They will see this as losing the battle, but the war to replace him goes on.

The last Conservative prime minister to face a party vote on their leadership was Mrs May, who won the vote but resigned six months later over her approach to Brexit.

Mr Johnson succeeded her in July 2019 and then called a general election in which the Conservatives won their biggest majority since former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's 1987 election victory.

The next general election is expected to be held in 2024 but could be earlier if Mr Johnson uses his powers to call one.

The next tests for Mr Johnson are by-elections held in Wakefield and in Tiverton & Honiton on the same day this month following the resignation of two Tory MPs.


Calls for PM to consider position


The Tory rebels who voted against Mr Johnson were insistent that the result had compromised the prime minister's ability to lead.

One of them, Julian Sturdy, said the result was "clear evidence that he no longer enjoys the full-hearted confidence of the parliamentary party and should consider his position".

Another one, Sir Roger Gale, said the result was very bad he would be surprised if Mr Johnson was still in post by the autumn.

But Mr Johnson's cabinet ministers rallied around him with messages of support.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the prime minister had secured "a fresh mandate" from the Conservative Party following his confidence vote win.

Mr Javid tweeted: "Tonight the PM has secured a fresh mandate from the parliamentary party. Now we need to unite and focus on the country's challenges."

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, who said he would back Mr Johnson before the vote, said the PM won "handsomely". "I hope we can draw a line under this issue," he said.

Highlighting Mr Johnson's general election victory in 2019, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said it was "time to get back to the job of governing".

The Labour leader said the public were "fed up with a prime minister who promises big but never delivers".

The PM was "utterly unfit for the great office that he holds", Sir Keir said, and Tory MPs have "ignored the British public".

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said the result left the prime minister "fatally wounded". "We need someone in office that the British people can trust," he told the BBC. "That's why this vote was so important."

The leader of the Liberal Democrats urged Tory MPs to "do the right thing, resign the whip and sit as an independent. "For the sake of our country, this failing prime minister cannot be propped up any longer," Sir Ed said,

The SNP's Westminster Leader Ian Blackford said he was "stunned" by the result, adding it was a "big thing" for that many Conservatives to vote against their own prime minister.

He said the PM now has the support of less than a third of the House of Commons. "For Boris, this should be over," he said.


Watch: Boris Johnson says the confidence vote result was "convincing and decisive"

Watch: The moment Sir Graham Brady announces Boris Johnson won the confidence vote

Sir Keir Starmer says Conservatives MPs ignore a the British publish that is "fed up" with the PM


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Campaigners Press Government to Strengthen Rights for Four Million Gig Workers
Government Considers Higher Private Rents to Spread Asylum Accommodation Across UK
UK Moves to Protect Historic Pubs From Conversion Into Housing and Offices
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to House of Commons
British Manufacturers Report Rising Cybersecurity Threats Across Industrial Supply Chains
Royal Navy Increases Monitoring of Russian Ships in UK Waters by 25 Percent
England Adds More Than 350 Medical Training Posts to Strengthen NHS Capacity
NHS Waiting Lists Over 52 Weeks Rise by More Than 11,000 Patients
Brent Crude Near $88 Raises Fresh UK Energy Cost Concerns
UK Treasury Warns Prolonged Strait of Hormuz Disruption Could Cut 2027 Growth to 0.3 Percent
UK Economy Grows 0.4 Percent in Second Quarter as Energy and Inflation Risks Persist
UK Heatwave Triggers Emergency Alert as Government Unveils £65 Million Farm Support Package
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Takes Regional Tour to Highlight Local Infrastructure and Environmental Problems
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
Bank of England Warns Rising Inflation Could Squeeze UK Household Incomes
UK Government Announces £65 Million Aid Package for Farmers Hit by Severe Drought
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Energy Market Pressures
UK Issues Emergency Alert as Severe Wildfires Spread Across England and Wales
UK and Finland Discuss European Defence and Continued Support for Ukraine
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
UK Government Deploys Military to Help Fight Wildfires and Bans Disposable Barbecues
UK Records Hottest Day of the Year as Fifth Summer Heatwave Peaks in Southern England
UK Condemns Houthi Actions and Warns of Red Sea Threat to Global Trade
UK and Solomon Islands Open Wildlife Photography Exhibition in Honiara
UK Small Businesses Face Continued Cash Flow and Tax Pressures
Greatham Marsh Restoration Restores Tidal Wetland in Hartlepool After More Than 200 Years
UK Health Regulator Urges University Students to Check Meningitis and Measles Vaccination Status
Mining Remediation Authority Completes Major Ground Stabilization Works in Scottish Community
UK Food Crime Investigators Seize 33 Tonnes of Illegal Food in Multi-Agency Operation
Technical Qualification Uptake Hits Record High as Advanced Mathematics Results Improve
UK Summer Temperatures on Course to Challenge Long-Standing Records, Met Office Says
UK Farmers Bring Forward Cereal Harvests as Drought Threatens Yields
×