London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Boris Johnson fights for his premiership after MP defects to Labour

Boris Johnson fights for his premiership after MP defects to Labour

Embattled prime minister refuses to step down despite defection and reports of a plot to remove him.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is fighting to save his premiership after a member of his party defected over accusations he and his staff defied lockdown rules, and as an internal Conservative rebellion reportedly gathered pace.

Christian Wakeford, who represents the Bury South constituency in northern England, switched allegiances to join the main opposition Labour Party on Wednesday.

He crossed the lower chamber House of Commons to take a seat on Labour’s benches, a symbolic departure made during the weekly Prime Minster’s Questions (PMQs) session.

“I can no longer support a government that has shown itself consistently out of touch with the hard working people of Bury South and the country as a whole,” he said in a statement.

Asked by an opposition Liberal Democrat lawmaker during PMQs whether it was now time to resign, Johnson replied: “No.”

The Conservative Party leader, who is alleged to have broken social distancing rules in 2020 by attending a party, said people should await the outcome of an inquiry led by a senior civil servant into whether such gatherings were held in breach of COVID-19 restrictions.

The inquiry’s conclusions, expected to be published by next week, will analyse reports of several events that reportedly took place while most other Britons fastidiously followed measures aimed at stemming the virus.

Al Jazeera’s Paul Brennan, reporting from London, said Johnson was “on the defensive but not subdued” during PMQs despite Wakeford’s decision and repeated questioning about the so-called “PartyGate” scandal.

“He was very at pains to say his was a competent government that had done well with the pandemic, but he was put under enormous pressure not just by Labour leader Keir Starmer but also by people on his own side,” Brennan said.


No-confidence vote


Wakeford’s defection heaps yet further pressure on Johnson, who a week ago admitted to attending a garden party at Downing Street during a coronavirus lockdown in May 2020.

Since then, it has emerged that two more gatherings were held at Downing Street on April 16, 2021, in breach of restrictions.

The April parties, which Johnson did not attend, took place the evening before Queen Elizabeth II sat alone as she buried her late husband, Prince Philip, in strict compliance with the virus rules.

A string of other rule-breaking gatherings have been reported, thrusting Johnson into the severest crisis of his premiership since he won a landslide election victory little more than two years ago on a pledge to “Get Brexit Done”.

He has apologised for the parties and said that he was unaware of many of them.

In what critics have called a move to quell the Britons and politicians who are sceptical of COVID restrictions, Johnson scrapped all measures on Wednesday; working from home is no longer being encouraged, mask-wearing is not mandatory, and COVID passes will not be needed for large events.

Johnson told lawmakers that the restrictions were ending because government scientists believed it was likely that the surge of infections prompted by the highly contagious Omicron variant “has now peaked nationally”.

Meanwhile, as public anger rises, some Conservative legislators are reportedly trying to trigger a no-confidence vote.

Under the Conservatives’ rules, for such a vote to take place, 54 legislators must write letters to the head of their parliamentary group demanding a ballot.

A handful of Conservative politicians have called for Johnson to quit, while more have criticised him. Several dozen are understood to have submitted letters.

If Johnson lost a confidence vote, it would lead to a leadership challenge that would by default determine who replaces him as prime minister.

Leading contenders to potentially replace Johnson are thought to include Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, 41, and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, 46.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
×