London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 22, 2025

KOZA NOSTR vs Dignity: Vote of no confidence marks dramatic shift in Tory attitude to Boris Johnson

KOZA NOSTR vs Dignity: Vote of no confidence marks dramatic shift in Tory attitude to Boris Johnson

The vote today will show the British people how many criminals backing up the criminal-government, and how many honest parliament members will vote against the criminals that holding the leadership despite their serial wrongdoings and failures.

In just 12 hours on Sunday, the mood appeared to shift dramatically in Boris Johnson’s camp. Days earlier, cabinet ministers had been confidently predicting no vote would be held – even briefing names of some of the prime minister’s staunchest critics who they hoped to win round.

Even on the Sunday morning shows, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, who was Johnson’s “numbers man” running sophisticated spreadsheets to track backers for his leadership campaign, said he did not expect that vote.

But later that evening, the business minister, Paul Scully, all but conceded it would happen. With 54 letters of no confidence required to trigger a vote, the sheer weight of numbers was against the prime minister. In total, 50 MPs have been publicly critical of Johnson’s position without any caveat of saying he should nevertheless stay in post.

A further 36 had not made public statements since Sue Gray’s report into the Partygate scandal, but had previously suggested to constituents they would make their decision based on her findings.

Graham Brady, the head of the 1922 Committee, is not a man who calls the fire brigade at the first sign of smoke. When he oversaw the vote of no confidence in Theresa May, he said the threshold of letters to trigger it was seeing “an element of traffic in both directions” – people were putting letters in and also taking them out.

But Brady called May – and one can thus assume the same applied to Johnson – when he judged the threshold had clearly been exceeded, despite some being withdrawn.


Even if Johnson wins the confidence of MPs on Monday evening, as he expects to, the plummet from grace has been extraordinary. It is just three and a half years since the Conservatives forced their last vote of no confidence on their leader.

Since then Johnson won the Tory leadership with the landslide backing of the parliamentary party and of party members.

He then secured a landslide election victory – an 80-seat majority after an era of deeply unpredictable coalitions and tiny majorities. He took the UK out of the EU – the culmination of a project that had been the most fevered wish of many of his supporters.

Yet perhaps only this prime minister could have squandered all that so swiftly – Partygate encapsulated a sense of “one rule for them” that has been the constant aura through Johnson’s political career. He was cavalier with the truth. He wavered on difficult decision making. His No 10 operation was chaotic. His delivery of key pledges was thin.

Now his critics range from the more predictable ousted ex-ministers to staunch Brexiters who plotted the removal of his predecessor, from 2019 red wallers to select committee chairs and lockdown sceptics.

The odds are still on for the prime minister to convince the majority of MPs to keep him. His best chance is to get into the campaign mode where he is most comfortable and convince MPs he is a winner. But the rebels are getting more organised. Last night a briefing document circulated among MPs setting out the case for why Johnson is now an electoral liability.

The most damning line was that the booing of Johnson during the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations “tells us nothing the data does not” and that no social group polled says they trust the prime minister.

Another point says the “entire purpose of the government now appears to be the sustenance of Boris Johnson as prime minister” – pointing to his personal negative ratings and saying that “defending the indefensible” is not to protect the party but one man.

That will be the question in the back of most MPs’ minds as they cast their votes tonight.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
US and Qatar Warn EU of Trade and Energy Risks from Tough Climate Regulation
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Nicolas Sarkozy begins five-year prison term at La Santé in Paris
Japan stocks surge to record as Sanae Takaichi becomes Prime Minister
This Is How the 'Heist of the Century' Was Carried Out at the Louvre in Seven Minutes: France Humiliated as Crown with 2,000 Diamonds Vanishes
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
×