Johnson - not hounded out yet
"Dominic Raab is understood to have ruled himself out of the Conservative Party leadership contest.The deputy prime minister is one of a handful of high-profile contenders to drop out of the running to be the next resident of Number 10, Sky News has reported.Michael Gove, who was sacked by Boris Johnson last night, has also reportedly ruled himself out of the contest, the Daily Mail has reported.As has Matt Hancock, who was forced to resign as health secretary in June 2021." (Metro today)So Johnson could be encouraged to resign. Then Dominic Raab, the deputy Prime Minister, could be the caretaker for the next few months.Daily Express on Dominic Cummings today:- More than a year since walking out of Downing Street with his possessions packed in a cardboard box, Mr Cummings seems ready to see his former boss go too. Mr Johnson's former adviser, who is now recasting himself as a political speaker, said after this afternoon's resignation statement the outgoing Prime Minister had "blamed everyone else" for his failures, portrayed himself as "the real victim" and "set up betrayal stories" for the future. Writing on Twitter, he concluded: "We're all in for a nightmare if he's allowed to squat.""Johnson has not resigned as Prime Minister, and he has reminded us all of his "colossal mandate".We could be in for a rocky ride until October with a micro-Trump, still with his finger on the red button.BBC:-"Could he go any sooner?Some Conservative MPs have suggested the timetable for the leadership election could be shortened and completed in a few weeks.Sir John Major said one option was that Mr Johnson could resign as prime minister immediately and that Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab could take over temporarily.He also suggested there could be a significant change to the leadership election process. The timescale for the contest is decided by the executive of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, and they could decide to change the rules as well before the contest starts.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says if Mr Johnson is not removed at once, he would call a vote of no confidence.Under a motion of no confidence, all MPs - not just Conservatives - would get to vote. One more MP voting in favour than voting against would be required for it to pass.Such an outcome, however, would rely on Conservative MPs voting against their own government - which would be unlikely."
David Ainsworth ● 1306d4 Comments