Rayner does not rule out tabling Commons vote of no confidence in PM

Angela Rayner has said that Labour will “consider all options” when asked whether the party would table a parliamentary vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson.

In an BBC Breakfast interview this morning, Rayner did not rule out Labour pushing for a vote in the Commons and argued that “the Prime Minister is just once again making it very difficult to deal with the issues that people face today”.

The deputy Labour leader told viewers that the government needs to focus on the ‘cost-of-living crisis’ and the challenges facing the health service, but said: “We can’t do that while the Prime Minister continues to limp on.”

She added: “He has no confidence of his backbenchers, he has no confidence of any other political party and he has lost the will of the British people. So he should do the right thing and resign.”

The Prime Minister survived a vote of confidence of his backbenchers on Monday evening by 211 votes to 148. 41% of Conservative MPs voted to remove Johnson from office. The Prime Minister has claimed the result as a victory.

The vote took place after 54 Tory MPs submitted written requests to the 1922 committee, which oversees confidence votes and Conservative leadership elections, calling for one. Under the rules of the committee, the Prime Minister cannot now be subjected to another confidence vote for 12 months.

The Prime Minister described the result as “extremely good”, claiming that it would allow the government to put the ‘partygate’ scandal behind it and focus on “what we as a government are doing to help people”.

The proportion of MPs who voted against Johnson is greater than the votes against Theresa May in 2018. May was forced to leave office just six months after a winning a confidence ballot, despite winning the vote by 200 votes to 117.

Keir Starmer said it was “grotesque” that Conservative MPs had voted to back Johnson, describing the party as “divided” and “propping up Boris Johnson with no plan to tackle the issues facing you and your family”.

“The Conservative Party now believes that good government focused on improving lives is too much to ask. The Conservative Party now believes that breaking the law is no impediment to making the law. The Conservative Party now believes that the British public have no right to expect honest politicians,” he said.

The vote on Monday followed months of political pressure after allegations emerged that Johnson broke Covid lockdown rules on numerous occasions. He has been investigated by the civil service and fined by the police. He is also being investigated by the Commons privileges committee over allegations that he misled parliament.