What could 1922 Committee elections mean for Boris Johnson? | Elections seen by many as proxy ballot on whether prime minister should face second no-confidence vote
What could 1922 Committee elections mean for Boris Johnson? | Elections seen by many as proxy ballot on whether prime minister should face second no-confidence vote
1 comment
> One of the most important but understated elections in Westminster will take place within weeks, with the date still shrouded in secrecy but candidates already plotting their campaigns.
The article lays out a few facts about the forthcoming elections for executive posts on the backbenchers’ committee which sets the Tory party rules under which no-confidence votes in the leader are run.
Voting will be mostly backbenchers, along with a few “whose jobs rely on them supporting the government . . . but do not sit on the frontbench or speak from the dispatch box.”
Since it’s thought most votes against Johnson in the recent no-confidence vote [came from “non-payroll” MPs](https://nitter.net/RoryStewartUK/status/1533904725782953984#m) (i.e. from the backbenches) the election could be a shoe-in for anti-Johnson candidates, some of whom are running just in order to be able to prematurely terminate the damaging premiership:
> The ballot is being seen by many as a proxy vote on whether Johnson should face another no-confidence vote. Having won the last one, but with 41% of colleagues voting against him, the prime minister is now immune under party rules from facing a similar challenge for 12 months.
> However, the 1922 Committee could change the rules to dramatically reduce that period. Some candidates are standing on a specific platform of doing so, while others will openly oppose the move.