By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to face a no-confidence vote from his party's Members of Parliament, a senior Conservative lawmaker confirmed on Monday.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, told the backbench MPs whom he represents that he had received enough letters from the party's lawmakers to force a vote, which will take place later Monday between 12 PM and 2 PM ET (1700-1900 GMT).
Under the party's rules, over 15% of sitting MPs need to request a vote for it to proceed.
The flood of letters from MPs follows a damning report into parties held at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister's residence, during the pandemic, flouting the government's own rules which put the rest of the country under extreme lockdown restrictions. Johnson claimed that the report had exonerated him from accusations that he lied to parliament about the parties, but his interpretation has not been widely shared outside the government.
One such letter, from former Treasury Minister Jesse Norman, indicated that the party's unhappiness goes well beyond the issue of illegal parties. Norman said "your current policy priorities are extremely questionable" and added that "sensible planning has been replaced by empty rhetoric."
He also pointed to the recent government's plans to suspend the agreement between the U.K. and European Union over the status of Northern Ireland, as well as draft legislation aimed at restricting the right to protest, and plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda while their applications are processed. He also accused Johnson of trying to introduce an alien system of presidential rule.
While the Conservatives won a big majority in the House of Commons at the last elections, its gains were largely due to the poorer northern regions of England switching their support to the party that delivered Brexit. With Brexit having failed to deliver any sort of economic gains since 2016 and with the party scandal reviving concerns about the distance between rulers and ruled, many northern constituencies have swung back to their traditional support for left-leaning parties. The Labour Party has enjoyed a solid lead in national opinion polls since November.
The pound was up 0.4% at $1.2533 after the news. However, that appeared more directly linked to speculation that the Bank of England will be forced into a quicker tightening of monetary policy by rampant inflation.