UK Conservatives advancing plans to oust PM Boris Johnson, report says

A growing number of senior Conservatives in the UK are advancing plans to oust Boris Johnson as Tory leader and prime minister “sooner rather than later”, the Guardian reports.

Amid warnings about the effects of the Partygate scandal on their electoral chances, high-ranking MPs are urging their colleagues not to dither over concerns about the succession or Russia-Ukraine war, but, instead, to strike before it is too late.

Some MPs who have privately backed Johnson until now believe the game is up and that he is on borrowed time. MPs say several potential successors are stepping up campaign preparations and canvassing support – including Liz Truss, Penny Mordaunt and Jeremy Hunt.

The development comes on the heels of all parliament parties’ agreement to put Johnson under investigation to determine whether he lied to parliament over lockdown-breaking parties at his office, when the country was under strict COVID-19 restrictions.

“I have seen enough to reach a conclusion that the prime minister needs to go,” Mark Harper, the former Tory chief said. He urged his colleagues to be confident for selecting a new leader who “can set out an attractive proposition and ensure we can win the next election.”

UK MPs uphold contempt probe against Prime Minister Boris Johnson

British lawmakers agree to put Prime Minister Boris Johnson under investigation to determine whether he lied to parliament over lockdown-breaking parties at his office.

Many Tory MPs are waiting for the results of the 5 May local elections before deciding whether to send a formal letter of no confidence in Johnson to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Graham Brady. If Brady receives 54 or more such letters, a vote of confidence has to be held, and if Johnson loses, he must step down.

Johnson has become the first sitting British prime minister to be fined for breaking the law when he was fined by the Metropolitan Police over the birthday gathering for him in No. 10 in June 2020.

At any time, Johnson could be fined again for other gatherings held in Downing Street that broke his own government’s laws. And the final report by a senior civil service officer into the Partygate scandal could be so damning that Conservative poll numbers slump even further.

On Thursday, the Metropolitan police announced it would not provide any updates on fixed penalty notice (FPN)s for Downing Street lockdown breaches until after next month’s local elections “due to the restrictions around communicating” ahead of the local elections, though the criminal investigation and issuing of fines could continue.

UK's Johnson apologizes for partygate scandal, Labour calls him ‘man without shame’

UK Prime Minister Boris has apologized for becoming the first British leader fined for breaking the law by attending a birthday party in Downing Street in 2020 while his own administration had enforced strict pandemic lockdowns, including restrictions on gatherings.

Addressing parliament for the first time since the April 12 fining, he repeated an assertion that he did not think he had done anything wrong and urged MPs to focus on pressing issues including the conflict in Ukraine.

“I paid the fine immediately, and I offered the British public a full apology,” he said. “As soon as I received the notice, I acknowledged the hurt and the anger and I said that people had a right to expect better of their prime minister – and I repeat that again in the house now,” Johnson added.

UK’s Johnson says will remain PM despite partygate scandal

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that he will remain in his official post despite mounting pressure to resign over the partygate scandal.

Facing questions about the alleged parties during his final day in India on Friday, the prime minister said he would still be in power in the autumn, having set the target of signing a trade deal with New Delhi by October.

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