Prime Minister Boris Johnson could face another confidence vote as the treasurer of the powerful committee representing Tory backbenchers hinted at rule change in the wake of a double by-election defeat.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said on Friday that Johnson would have to convince Conservative MPs that he shouldn’t be replaced.
After a number of missteps including the handling of payment for the refurbishment of his Downing Street flat and the Owen Paterson suspension that culminated in the Partygate saga, Johnson narrowly survived a confidence vote earlier this month with 41 percent of Parliamentary Conservative Party members rebelling against him.
Johnson’s survival meant another confidence vote couldn’t be triggered within a year, but after the Conservative Party’s lost two seats last night—to Labour in Wakefield and to the Liberal Democrats in Tiverton and Honiton—Clifton-Brown suggested the rule may change….