(CNN) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a confidence vote from members of his own party, but his margin of victory was smaller than his supporters expected.
Despite a flurry of recent criticism — including those over illegal Downing Street office parties that breached the lockdown — Johnson won by 211 votes to 148 in a secret ballot on Monday.
What is significant is that almost half of his own parliamentary party did not support him, three years following he led the Conservative Party to a landslide victory in the last general election.
Voting began at 6 p.m. (1 p.m. Miami time) on Monday, following Johnson urged conservative lawmakers to back him and reminded them that he had led the party to its biggest electoral victory in 40 years, according to a letter he wrote. seen by PA Media.
But the narrow victory will leave Johnson’s reputation tarnished, even if it doesn’t topple his government. The Conservatives face two difficult by-elections at the end of June, following two of their MPs were forced to resign amid their own scandals. Disappointing results in that election might increase pressure on Johnson ahead of the national general election scheduled for 2024.
Despite the victory, the opposition Labor Party has said that by clinging to power this time, Johnson makes the prospect of a snap election even more likely. Labor Party leader Keir Starmer told LBC that Monday’s vote it would mark “the beginning of the end” of the prime minister’s political career regardless of the outcome.
“If you look at previous examples of no-confidence votes, even when Conservative prime ministers survive… the damage has already been done,” the opposition leader said on Monday. “They usually go down reasonably quickly followingwards.”
Boris Johnson scandals
Monday’s vote was triggered following more than 54 lawmakers sent letters to the chairman of the Tory 1922 committee, following a flurry of criticism over a series of scandals in which Johnson has been embroiled for months.
Last month, a damning report by a senior official described a culture of partying and socializing among Johnson’s staff during the Covid-19 lockdown, while millions of Britons were barred from seeing friends and family.
The so-called “Partygate” scandal caused his approval ratings to plummet and sparked discontent among many of his supporters. But Johnson has also been criticized for his response to the cost crisis, and his party suffered heavy losses in local elections in May.
Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, was the last serving British leader to face a no-confidence motion from her own party. May narrowly survived that vote, which had been called amid months of chaos over her Brexit deal, but she eventually resigned months later.
The Prime Minister’s reaction
In an interview given shortly following the vote, Boris Johnson said: “I think it’s a very good result for politics and for the country.”
“I think it’s a compelling result, a watershed result, and what it means is that as a government we can move forward and focus on the things that really matter to people,” Johnson said. “I am grateful to colleagues and appreciate the support they have given me.”
CNN’s Sharon Braithwaite, Richard Green, Lauren Kent and Benjamin Brown contributed reporting.
