With the prospect of more Partygate fines and a spiralling cost-of-living crisis, many on his own side are playing a waiting game
Among the scandals engulfing Johnson’s leadership was the expulsion of Imran Ahmad Khan from the Conservative party last week after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.Yet as Tory MPs prepared to regroup in Westminster this week, many were already concluding that any predictions that the threat to Johnson’s position had subsided were seriously overdone.
His real saviour, however, came in the unlikely form of Sir Roger Gale – an arch Johnson critic. In a sign that there would be no immediate threat to Johnson’s premiership, he concluded removing him now would be a “gross self-indulgence” while the Ukraine crisis was continuing. As Tory MPs began wading through their emails at the end of last week, various responses mirrored that of Gale – that “not now” very much did not mean “never”.
The local elections, too, have become pivotal to test public support for Johnson, a leader whom many MPs only supported after being persuaded of his electoral draw. Has anger over Partygate cut through? Tattenhoe, a relatively affluent pocket of Milton Keynes characterised by green spaces and attractive new housing developments, has two Conservative councillors and one Labour. Next month, the Labour seat is up for grabs – an opportunity Muzammil hopes to grasp.
He will decide who to vote for locally “after a pint”, he said. “But it won’t be Conservative,” he added. He has previously voted for Labour candidates, but he is “not that sure” about the party’s leadership. “Maybe it’d be a good idea to go for the Lib Dems.” Back in Tattenhoe, the criticism from many Conservative voters was gentle. One local, a 49-year-old personal assistant, said Johnson and Sunak should “be punished and held accountable”, but added: “I will still vote for the Tories, to be honest. They’ve got us through the past few years better than some other countries.”
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