LONDON — Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is in crisis, is trying to secure his political future. Two of his Cabinet ministers have resigned and a number of junior ministers have resigned after months of political chaos.
Increasing numbers of his opponents in the Conservative Party are calling for Johnson’s resignation. Johnson has not shown any signs of quitting and stated that he plans to keep his job.
Johnson may not resign. It could fall to the 1922 Committee, a powerful but small Conservative group that will decide whether Johnson should be ousted before the next general elections.
Let’s take a look at what could happen.
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CAN A NO CONFIDENCE VOTE BE HELD?
Technically, it is not possible for 11 more months.
If 15% of Conservative legislators — currently 54 — request it, a no-confidence motion is initiated.
Johnson survived the confidence vote of Jun. 6 Despite the fact that 41% of his party’s legislators voted against Johnson, Johnson survived a confidence vote on Jun.
According to current party rules, it takes one year before another formal challenge for leadership can be made.
The 1922 Committee is able to modify the rules to allow for a new confidence vote in a shorter period of time.
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WHAT IS THE 1922 COMITTEE?
The 1922 Committee is a group consisting of approximately a dozen Conservative backbenchers, which are not members of the prime minister’s cabinet. They meet regularly to discuss party issues. To represent the opinions of rank and file members, the committee meets monthly with the party leader.
The group decides under what rules a sitting leader may be challenged.
Named after a group of legislators elected in 1922, the committee was established in 1923.
All Conservative backbenchers elect its members. A Monday election will be held to select a new executive board.
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HOW LIKELY DO THE RULES CHANGE?
This is up to the 1922 Committee executive. Many Conservative lawmakers have indicated that they will support the committee and vote in favor of a rule change if elected.
After Wednesday’s private meeting, the committee did not announce any changes to the rules immediately.
Bob Blackman, joint executive secretary of the committee, stated earlier Wednesday that he believes a “very high threshold” is required to justify a confidence vote, so soon after last month’s ballot.
“We need to be calm here. One of the other suggestions… is to reduce the timeframe down to six months. He explained to TalkTV that six months would take you to December’s beginning.
He stated that “It would be a very high threshold to merit confidence votes very quickly after a previous vote of confidence.”
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WHAT IF JOHNSON LOSE A CONFIDENCE POTE?
His press secretary Wednesday said that Johnson would fight for his stay and win another confidence vote. She called last month’s results “clear, decisive.”
To survive a confidence vote, Johnson must have support from 180 of 359 Conservative legislators.
He would resign if he loses and the party would hold an electoral process to elect a new leader. Johnson would not be allowed to run. He would continue to be the party leader and prime Minister until a successor is found.
Any Conservative lawmaker is eligible to run for Johnson’s replacement as party leader. The winner of this leadership race is elected prime minister without the need to hold a national election.
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Follow all of AP’s coverage of Prime Minister Boris Johnson at https://apnews.com/hub/boris-johnson
