LONDON ( Associated Press) – Conservative lawmakers in Britain will vote on Monday evening To oust its leader, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been stigmatized by revelations that he and his staff organized parties breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules imposed on the country.
Here’s how the Conservative Party thinks about challenging and changing leaders.
vote of no confidence
If 15% of Conservative MPs – currently 54 – a no-confidence vote is triggered, writes a letter to Graham Brady, head of a powerful group of Conservative legislators known as the 1922 Committee. It is so called because it was founded by parliamentarians elected for the first time that year. These days this includes conservative lawmakers who do not hold official positions in the government.
Brady announced Monday that the threshold had been met and said voting would take place in the evening in parliament, with results to be announced soon after.
All 359 Tory legislators can vote secretly; Johnson needs 180 votes to win. If he survives, there cannot be another challenge for a year unless the rules are changed.
If Johnson loses, he will resign and a party leadership contest will be held in which he will be barred from running. He would remain party leader and prime minister until a replacement was chosen.
,
leadership competition
The Conservative Leadership Competition consists of two phases. In the first phase, Conservative MPs hold a preliminary vote on all candidates. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voting continues until there are two contenders.
When there are only two candidates left, they are voted for full party membership across the country.
In the last leadership contest in 2019, Johnson and former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt were given a field of 10 candidates. Johnson easily won with nearly two-thirds of the votes cast by party members.
The winner of the vote becomes the leader of the Conservative Party and the prime minister, without the need for a national election.
,
claimant
Any Conservative legislator deserves to run to replace Johnson as party leader. The two names most mentioned are Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Treasury Chief Rishi Sunak, both senior ministers who have strong followers in the party.
Other possible contenders include: Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, who last ran against Johnson; Education Secretary Nadim Jahvi; A key figure in the UK’s successful COVID-19 vaccine programme; Penny Mordaunt, Minister of International Trade, was seen as a rising star; Leveling Up Secretary Michael Gove, one of the most powerful members of Johnson’s government; Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who has led the country’s coronavirus response; and Hunt, who has said he has not given up hope of becoming prime minister one day.
