The one issue dominating British politics for weeks is nothing other than the partying going on at the heart of the government, at 10 Downing Street, the office-cum-residence of the prime minister. This scandalous partying, now dubbed as “Partygate'' by the British media, raises serious questions about not only the standards in public life, but whether one of the world’s oldest democracies can still cling on to it’s global standing. Prime minister Boris Johnson’s influence and grip over the nearly 200-years-old party, the Conservatives, has been quite remarkable and unprecedented.
Boris Johnson’s electoral successes, both in the Brexit referendum and in the 2019 general election, almost made him larger than his party. A veteran of British political journalism, Andrew Marr, wrote in the New York Times, that the Conservatives are in an agonised, self-flagellating panic. Should they get rid of Boris Johnson, their populist leader, whose deceit and breaking of lockdown rules has infuriated so much of the country and embarrassed his party? Or stick with a man who, so far, has kept them in power?
The Partygate scandal is not about just one party in which Prime Minister Boris Jhonson was in attendance, but over a dozen other similar ones that took place at 10 Downing Street, and which are now contributing to the description of the government’s “partying culture.” Twelve of those parties are being investigated by London’s Metropolitan Police.The police investigation, however, has given PM Johnson some time to stave-off mounting pressure for resignation, by requesting the Cabinet office to withhold publication of the report of the other investigation carried out by a top civil servant Sue Gray. Gray, who served as the director-general for Propriety and Ethics in the Cabinet Office from 2012 to 2018, is known for having forced out three ministers during her tenure.
Despite heavy redactions, Gray`s report had enough damning elements against the prime minister as it criticised “failures of leadership and judgement” at the heart of the British government. The report said, “At least some of the gatherings in question represent a serious failure to observe not just the high standards expected of those working at the heart of Government but also of the standards expected of the entire British population at the time.” The scandal has engulfed Johnson’s government so much that he had to cancel his prescheduled telephone call to President Putin to talk about the Ukraine crisis and attend parliament instead to table the Sue Gray report and his response to its findings.
Opinion polls show that the partygate scandal has severely dented the electoral prospect of the Conservatives, giving the opposition the Labour party an advantage varying between 10 and 14 points. At least 15 MPs from his own backbench have openly called for Johnson to quit. The actual number of rebelling MPs, however, is speculated to be three times higher. It is hard for many people outside Britain to understand how Johnson is still holding on to his position, despite losing so much support outside and within his party. The main reason is he has a majority of more than 80 seats in the Commons, which frustrates any potential move by opposition parties to have a no-confidence vote.
The only option left for his removal is a clear no-confidence vote within his party. But the Conservatives` internal rule stipulates that discussing any proposal to replace the leader requires a written submission to the chairman of the backbench committee (known as 1922 committee) by at least15 percent of its MPs.This means about 54 MPs have to officially call for a leadership change. But that does not automatically seal the fate of an incumbent leader of the Tory party. The party rules say that if the current leader is able to retain a majority within the parliamentary party, his/her position is secured for at least another year.
Despite such rigid rules of the Tory party, many pundits say there are signs that, despite Johnson's long history of beating the odds and pulling through rough waters, this Partygate scandal could end his premiership. According to them, if the police investigation resulted in handing him a penalty for breaking lockdown rules or if Sue Gray’s final report found he lied to parliament, then it would be terminal. Few others say, if the upcoming local elections in May show that Johnson is no longer a vote-winner, as the opinion polls have been indicating consistently, then sufficient number of party MPs would rally round his likely challengers.
Amidst the Partygate turmoil that prompted a series of high profile resignations and clearing out at Downing Street, and an attempt to revamp his administration, PM Johnson has come under renewed attack from all sides following an unruly mob confronting the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer outside parliament on Monday. MPs from all sides angrily accused Boris Johnson of whipping up political poison by falsely accusing Sir Keir of protecting a notorious paedophile, Jimmy Savile. Johnson provoked widespread fury last week when he suggested Sir Keir had protected Savile during his time as director of public prosecutions. This latest incident now fuels more speculation that many more Tory MPs will now have pens poised to write to the 1922 committee chief demanding a vote of confidence.
(Published in the Daily Star on 11 February, 2022.)
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