Senior Conservatives have accused Boris Johnson of increasingly misleading behavior on Saturday night after he said he was already planning his third term as prime minister, just two days after the Tories suffered a catastrophic double defeat in the midterm elections at the hands of Liberals and Labor. .
As talks on Johnson’s replacement intensified, several senior lawmakers wondered why the prime minister was allowed to give interviews in which he said he would refuse to change his way, and then, in even more provocative words, told journalists at the British Community summit in Rwanda that plans to be on Downing Street until the distant 2030s.
In a series of interventions that angered lawmakers, the prime minister suggested that he would not change his behavior in office, considered the problems surrounding his leadership to be settled, and saw that his prime ministerhood extended into the distant future.
Asked by reporters in the Rwandan capital if he would like to run for a second term as prime minister, Johnson said: “I am currently actively thinking about a third term and do you know what might happen then,” adding that that’s when I got to him. “
He continued: “We have launched a large-scale project to change the government, the country’s constitution, the way we manage our legal system, the way we manage our borders, our economy. All the things we do differently. At the same time, we are also embarking on a colossal project to unite and equalize … It will take time. And I want to keep moving it forward. “
His comments echoed Margaret Thatcher, who alarmed some of her Tory critics and probably accelerated her fall as prime minister when she said she intended to “go on and on” after the 1987 general election.
Margaret Thatcher alarmed critics when she said she intended to continue after the 1987 general election. Photo: Bettmann / Bettmann Archive
Earlier, Johnson provoked ridicule and disappointment among Tory MPs, hinting that he would not change his personality, despite a series of scandals and disputes that led them to consider ways to remove him as a leader. He said voters were tired of hearing about what he allegedly did wrong.
“If you say you want me to undergo some psychological transformation, I think our listeners will know that this will not happen,” Johnson told BBC Radio 4 today.
“What you can do, and what the government needs to do, and what I want to do, is continue to change, reform and improve our systems and our economy.
He later told Sky News that people wanted to hear less about “the things I stuffed.” He said he believed the issues with this guide were settled.
A former supporter of the prime minister, a former cabinet minister, described Johnson’s remarks as “completely misguided”, while a senior member of the Red Wall said he was “showing growing signs of a bunker mentality and it never ends well.” “
The party’s grandmaster, who backed him to be the leader in 2019, said that if Johnson “does not listen to the lessons of Tiverton, Honiton and Wakefield and does not take appropriate action, then his colleagues in parliament will have to do it for him. “.
Another former minister said there could be steps to oust Johnson at the Tory party conference in the fall. Referring to Theresa May’s Brexit deal with Checkers, the former minister said: “Remember that in 2018 he turned the conference into a Chuck Checkers conference. This could be Chuck Boris’ conference.
Writing in the Observer, Labor leader Keir Starmer said the result of the Wakefield midterm election showed that his party was ready for a general election and for power after undergoing profound changes and reforms since taking office from Jeremy Corbyn.
As the Tories try to sow the seeds of division, he says he has set Labor “firmly at the heart of British politics.” He added: “For months now, Boris Johnson has said in private that he will hold early elections. My message to him is simple: let him go. ”
Tory rebels are exploring the possibility of holding an extraordinary vote of activists this summer for Johnson’s leadership. The tactic was used when the party tried to oust Theresa May. Although any vote will not be binding, it would be a sign that the party’s mass population has lost faith in the prime minister.
Conservative MPs are also preparing for the election of executive director of the Tory Committee in 1922, which could change the rules for the election of leaders to allow a new vote of confidence in Johnson within a year.
Earlier this month, 148 Conservative MPs expressed distrust, 32 less than the number needed to force his resignation. Under the current rules, a second vote cannot be held for one year if a leader survives a vote of confidence.
Johnson will once again try to put domestic issues aside by calling for new sanctions against Russia and increased defense spending by international partners as he heads to the G7 and NATO summits for five days of intense diplomatic discussions. He is scheduled to fly to Germany on Sunday morning from Rwanda.
But Tory lawmakers say he is even more vulnerable to conspiracy by members of his own party when he is out of the country.
Oliver Dowden, who resigned as chairman of the Conservative Party. Photo: Aaron Chown / PA
The results of the by-elections, followed by the dramatic resignation of party chairman Oliver Dowden in the early hours of Friday, shocked the party hierarchy and raised a serious question about morality at all levels.
Johnson is due to hold talks with a number of fellow leaders, including US President Joe Biden, first at the annual meeting of the G7 industrialized countries in southern Germany this year, before flying to Madrid, Spain for a summit. NATO, which will be dominated by the war in Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its many consequences will be especially at the forefront of the Madrid summit, with Johnson reiterating his support for Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
While a bilateral meeting with Biden has not yet been formally determined, the G7 Johnson is scheduled to hold talks with Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, and Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa.
In NATO, where he arrives Tuesday afternoon, Johnson’s pre-arranged bilateral talks include Anthony Albanese, the new Australian prime minister, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, and Mark Rutte, his Dutch counterpart. Other engagements include a leaders’ dinner hosted by King Felipe VI of Spain.
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