Irish Examiner view: Johnson survives the heave — for now

That 148 of his MPs would vote against Boris Johnson suggests this is the beginning of the end for the British prime minister

Boris Johnson's duplicity on issues from Brexit to the NHS could give the British public pause for thought. But it's his obfuscation about parties at 10 Downing St that ignited the public backlash. Picture: Alberto Pezzali/PA

It was perhaps inevitable that Boris Johnson faced yesterday’s vote. Indeed it was no surprise at all. In recent times, the so-called ‘teflon shield’ won by Johnson as a result of his landslide general election victory in 2019 has been tarnished by his untrammelled obfuscation, bluster and, let’s admit it, damned lies.

Whatever about Johnson’s duplicity on a range of issues, not least Brexit, immigration, hospitals, and who paid for the redecorating of his state apartment, it was his refusal to admit that anything happened at Number 10 Downing St during two years of lockdown that ignited a public reaction which culminated in last night’s vote.

However, looking deeper than that, the Johnson-led Conservatives won the last election on a platform of “getting Brexit done” after years of political hand-wringing on the issue and terrifying the British public about the possibility of Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister. 

Johnson was the toast of the Tories after he turned Labour’s seemingly invincible northern red wall blue in 2019, blitzing constituencies that had been allergic to his party for generations.

The British people, and by extension their Tory MPs, have become frustrated by day-to-day issues such as a major housing crisis, a health system in meltdown, inflation gone mad, and the widespread perception there is one law for those in Downing St and another for the rest of the population.

That Johnson had been deemed ‘unembarassable’ was in itself a problem, not only for his party but also the electorate. With one eye on the next election, Tory grandees were becoming increasingly fearful of the damage the prime minister’s continued reign would have on their chances in that contest. 

Tory MPs voted by 211 to 148 in his favour, but the scale of the vote against him leaves Johnson’s leadership wounded. In itself, the fear of the future and not any past misdemeanours may have spelt the end, or at least the beginning of the end, for Johnson.