BoJo Continues Work Despite No-Confidence Vote

By the skin of his teeth, Boris Johnson beat back a vote of no confidence, effectively receiving a rebuke from his fellow Conservative as their party leader. Johnson won 211 to 148, scraping by the 180 votes he needed to hold onto office.

The vote is a major red flag for the UK’s 57 year-old prime minister, who has also been raked over the coals for partying at Downing Street during COVID-19 lockdowns. He also faces an uphill battle in tackling unwavering inflation that has Britons fearing a recession. Despite helping his party win a landslide victory in 2019, Johnson’s current credibility is clearly slipping.

Johnson’s polling numbers are faltering too, with 54% of Britons saying that Johnson is unfit to be in office. The PM was booed by some members of the public during a jubilee service on Friday at St. Paul’s Cathedral, and allied Europe and the United States have picked up the scent of BoJo’s crashing popularity.

BoJo doesn’t see it that way, however, and has labeled the tallied vote as “a golden chance” to “end the media’s favorite obsession” with the intoxicated bashes thrown at his home and office at Downing Street. He surmised the vote as a “decisive” decision that would allow the Tories to “move on” and focus on the “stuff” that is most important to Brits.