Boris Johnsonʼs government could not announce a vote of no confidence

The government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson avoided a vote of no confidence. The House of Commons of Great Britain, after five hours of debate, could not gather a sufficient number of votes — Johnsonʼs government was supported by 349 MPs, 238 opposed.

Sky News writes about it.

The debates mainly concerned internal problems. Labor blamed the government for the failure of social support for the population, and the conservatives, who have a majority in the chamber, declared an effective fight against the coronavirus and Brexit. If a vote of no confidence were to be announced to the government, Britain would face a general election.

In addition, in Britain, the third stage of voting for the prime minister of the country has ended. According to his results, the head of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, Tom Tugendhat, dropped out of the race. He received only 31 votes from fellow conservatives.

Four candidates will continue to fight for the prime ministerʼs seat: former finance minister Rishi Sunak, who received the most votes, junior trade policy minister Penny Mordaunt, foreign minister Liz Truss and former equalities minister Kemi Badenoch.

• On June 6, members of the Conservative Party held a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson due to the results of an investigation into the parties held in the prime ministerʼs office during the quarantine. Investigators determined that in 2020 and 2021 parties were held in the office without complying with quarantine measures, which the government introduced throughout Great Britain due to the coronavirus. Participants were fined. Johnson admitted his guilt, apologized and announced his willingness to pay the fine. According to the voting results, the Prime Minister received a vote of confidence and did not resign.
• Within a month, a scandal broke out again — due to the appointment of Christopher Pincher, who was accused of harassing two colleagues, to a position close to Johnson. There are versions that Johnson himself knew about this, but appointed Pincher anyway. The British prime minister again publicly apologized for such a decision, but emphasized that he would not resign.
• At the beginning of July, more than 50 members of his cabinet and high-ranking officials left Johnson due to scandals. The next day, he appointed new members of the government, but already on July 7, Johnson announced that he was resigning as head of government and leader of the Conservative Party. He will serve as the head of the party and the government until a new one is elected.
• On July 12, the Labor Party initiated a vote of no confidence, and on July 13, the British government initiated a vote of confidence in itself.