In the midst of an outbreak of the Omicron variant, Boris Johnson weakened by his troops

Despite an unprecedented rebellion of his troops in Parliament which undermines his authority, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his measures against the coronavirus on Wednesday in the midst of the outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Conflicts of interest within his party or even parties in Downing Street at the end of 2020 in defiance of health rules … Two years after his historic electoral victory, the conservative leader is weakened by a series of scandals and risks, Thursday, the loss of a conservative stronghold in a partial legislative test.

“Massive blow”

Tuesday evening, he suffered a snub in the House of Commons: 99 deputies of his majority voted against the establishment of a health pass for major events. It took the support of the Labor opposition to adopt this flagship government measure, aimed at fighting the “tidal wave” of Omicron cases in a country that already has 146,500 deaths from Covid-19. This is the biggest rebellion suffered by Boris Johnson. At the party level, only the former Prime Minister Theresa May had already suffered the worst blow since the Second World War, before being dismissed by her own. “Massive blow”, “big setback” or even “Bruised Boris”: the British newspapers on Wednesday underlined the extent of the mistrust, while only sixty rebel Tories were initially expected.

“We won the vote yesterday with the votes of the Conservatives,” defended Boris Johnson, during the weekly questioning of deputies, particularly agitated. “I respect and understand the legitimate concerns of my colleagues regarding restrictions on their freedom,” he added, “but I believe that the approach we are taking is balanced, proportionate and fair for this country”. Conservative MPs “were wrong to vote against basic health measures, but I can understand why, because they are angry with him,” Labor leader Keir Starmer told him, deeming the head of government “too weak to govern” and asking if he had “the necessary confidence and authority.”

“Very clear message”

This rebellion is a sign of the dissatisfaction of certain Tories against health measures which they consider to be liberticidal and harmful to the British economy. But it is also about a broader sanction vote, against a government which multiplies the scandals. The Prime Minister “received a very clear message yesterday that his colleagues are not happy with the way the government is operating at the moment,” Conservative MP Mark Harper told Times Radio. According to him, “it all started there is several weeks ”when Boris Johnson tried to change the disciplinary rules of Parliament in favor of a Conservative MP, Owen Paterson, who had to resign over a lobbying affair.

Added to this are explosive revelations about the holding of events in Downing Street in December 2020 – when the government demanded Britons to severely limit their social interactions – and numerous accusations of corruption. Faced with this fed up with the Tories, the Conservative Party could organize a vote of no confidence against its leader, who is drastically losing popularity in the polls. MP Goeffrey Clifton-Brown has already publicly indicated on Sky news that he wants such a ballot.

Symbolic election

“The vultures are turning again, barely two years after the Conservative Party tore up its last leader,” said in the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee, for whom Foreign Secretary Liz Truss would be “the obvious candidate to succeed” Johnson. “The government now depends on Starmer to provide a stable majority for its policies,” said in an editorial from the Times Daniel Finkelstein, according to whom “the government is in office, but no longer in power”.

The legitimacy of the Prime Minister will be put to the test on Thursday in a by-election as a referendum in North Shropshire (central England), intended to replace Owen Paterson. According to experts, this “Tory” stronghold could escape the Prime Minister for the benefit of the Liberal Democrats. “Some MPs have privately suggested that the loss of North Shropshire would drive the last nail in the coffin of Boris Johnson’s leadership,” said the Daily Telegraph.