Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, said in a statement Monday that the number of Conservative Party parliamentarians calling for the vote had reached the necessary threshold. The vote will be held between 6 pm and 8 pm local time on Monday.
The PM’s approval ratings have been plunging and there has been a growing sense among some parts of his ruling Conservative Party that he is becoming a liability. The party is facing two difficult parliamentary by-elections later this month.
The PA news agency quoted a Downing Street spokesperson as saying Johnson “welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs.”
In a sign of public displeasure, the Prime Minister was booed Friday by some members of the public as he arrived at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Under Conservative Party rules, if MPs want to get rid of their leader, they submit a confidential letter of no confidence to the chair of the 1922 Committee, a group of backbench lawmakers who do not hold government posts. The process is murky – the letters are kept secret and the chairman, Graham Brady, doesn’t even reveal how many have been handed in.
When 15% of Conservative lawmakers have submitted letters, a vote of confidence s triggered among all Conservative lawmakers.
This is a developing story.