Skip to main content

Thousands want Boris Johnson to stay in power, but party establishment not going to bite

Boris Johnson has no real opportunities left to salvage his premiership despite an apparent effort to get his name back in the mix for party leadership, a politics expert told Fox News Digital. 

"You can’t ever bet against Boris Johnson, but he’s run out of road on this particular episode of his career," Alan Mendoza, co-founder and executive director of The Henry Jackson Society, said. "He may well attempt to plot a return to high office in a maneuver familiar to Australian party leaders, but it will be from the back benches."

Johnson’s roughly three-year tenure as prime minister ended following the resignation of dozens of ministers who deemed his position "untenable." 

Conservative ministers declared that they had lost confidence in the prime minister after news emerged he had elevated Chris Pincher to the powerful role of deputy chief whip despite allegations of sexual misconduct.

THATCHER'S LEGACY LOOMS LARGE IN RACE TO REPLACE BORIS JOHNSON AS BRITISH PRIME MINISTER

But 14,000 people signed a petition requesting that the party hold a vote on Johnson’s removal. The Conservative Party claimed it had not received the petition, and Tory Donor Peter Cruddas and former MEP David Campbell Bannerman – the authors of the petition – have said they will thoroughly check all signatories for membership numbers and verification of address. 

Even if those numbers proved genuine, the total represents just a fraction of the roughly 200,000 members that make up the party, and the party has indicated it will ignore the petition entirely, The Guardian reported. 

UK SPY CHIEF WARNS OF ‘NO LIMITS’ RUSSIA, CHINA PARTNERSHIP, BUT INSISTS WEST HAS ‘ADVANTAGES’

Johnson has regularly touted his ability to win elections, especially on the heels of securing the largest Conservative party majority in over 40 years. Mendoza argued that Johnson could still serve to help the party in a near-term general election, but that might be the extent of his involvement. 

"His brand will remain strong if he can demonstrate continued star campaigning power, but there is no way to salvage his premiership right now so a period of enforced exile looms," Mendoza said. 

BRITISH SPY CHIEF CRITICIZED CHINA'S SUPPORT OF RUSSIA

Johnson on July 20 gave his final "Prime Minister’s Questions" address to his colleagues and political opponents in Parliament. His statement made mention of his "successor, whoever he or she may be." 

He highlighted the successes of his premiership, which included helping the country through the COVID-19 pandemic and assisting Ukraine during the early months of the Russian invasion. 

"And frankly that’s enough to be going on with," he said, before thanking the members of Parliament.

Johnson served as one of the most vocal and ardent supporters of Ukraine during the invasion – so much so that another petition suggested giving him Ukrainian citizenship so he could become the country’s next prime minister. 

Fox News’ Gabriel Hays contributed to this report. 



from Fox News https://ift.tt/AQFEK9r
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

China reaffirms threat of military force to annex Taiwan

China on Wednesday reaffirmed its threat to use military force to bring self-governing Taiwan under its control, amid threatening Chinese military exercises that have raised tensions between the sides to their highest level in years. The lengthy policy statement issued by the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office and its news department followed almost a week of missile firings and incursions into Taiwanese waters and airspace by Chinese warships and air force planes. The actions have disrupted flights and shipping in a region crucial to global supply chains, prompting strong condemnation from the U.S., Japan and others. An English-language version of the Chinese statement said Beijing would "work with the greatest sincerity and exert our utmost efforts to achieve peaceful reunification." TAIWAN SAYS CHINA MILITARY DRILLS PART OF PLAN FOR IMPENDING INVASION "But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures. This is to ...

China's Sanya Island getaway shutting down its duty free malls amid COVID outbreak

Sanya, a top tropical holiday destination on China's southern Hainan island, began closing its duty free malls on Friday in response to a worsening COVID-19 outbreak . Since China shut its international borders in early 2020 to curb the spread of COVID-19, Hainan's duty-free industry has boomed, becoming a vital channel for global brands from Gucci to Coach, La Mer to L'Oreal to reach Chinese shoppers. But Sanya International Duty Free City in Haitang Bay, run by China Duty Free Group and Hainan's largest offshore mall, shut for an undetermined period on Friday to prevent COVID-19 spreading, a post on its Weibo account said. BEIJING RESIDENTS ASKED TO WEAR MONITORING BRACELETS TO ENFORCE COVID QUARANTINE, PROMPTING OUTCRY This closure comes even though no cases in Hainan's current outbreak have been detected in Haitang Bay as yet. While the case numbers in China are small compared to the rest of the world, Beijing pursues a "dynamic zero" policy that ...

China begins discouraging abortions and promoting fertility treatment as birth rate plummets

China will discourage abortions and take steps to make fertility treatment more accessible as part of efforts to boost one of the world's lowest birth rates , its National Health Authority said on Tuesday. Support measures from taxation and insurance to education and housing would be improved and implemented, with local governments encouraged to boost infant care services and family friendly workplaces, according to guidelines published on the authority's website. The authority said it would carry out reproductive health promotion to enhance public awareness while "preventing unintended pregnancy and reducing abortions that are not medically necessary." VIRUS TESTING THE NEW NORMAL AS CHINA STICKS TO ‘ZERO-COVID’ China's fertility rate of 1.16 in 2021 was far below the 2.1 OECD standard for a stable population and among the lowest in the world. The guidelines come as China's uncompromising "zero-COVID" policy of curbing outbreaks with strict co...