British PM Boris Johnson survives no-confidence vote after ‘flouting’ COVID rules

Amna Nawaz:

We return now to the United Kingdom, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson survived a parliamentary vote of no confidence today.

William Brangham has more on what that move means for Johnson's Johnson's ability to lead.

William Brangham:

Amna, this was seen as the most direct threat yet to Mr. Johnson, a rebuke by his own members for holding these parties while the rest of his nation was in COVID lockdown.

Though he survived today's vote, many think he's left in a much weakened position politically. But after the vote today, Johnson vowed to press ahead with the nation's business.

Boris Johnson, British Prime Minister:

Although you may want to focus on me and on politics and on Westminster, I think what matters is what we deliver and what we do. And as a result of this decision tonight by the parliamentary party, which I welcome, we have a conclusion to something that's been dragging on for far too long.

And we have the ability now to unite, deliver and get on with the people's priorities. And that is what we're going to do.

William Brangham:

For more on this, we turn to Robin Niblett. He's the director of the international think tank Chatham House.

Robin Niblett, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

So the prime minister survives this vote today, but can you help us understand how he got to this precipice in the first place? We have certainly seen politicians in the U.S. violate COVID lockdowns, Democrats and Republicans, and they survive it. Why was this so much more severe for Prime Minister Johnson?

Robin Niblett, Director, Chatham House:

Well, I think it's a culmination of many items.

You will remember that Boris Johnson has always been a divisive figure within the Conservative Party, although he secured them a historically large election victory back at the end of 2019. He was always a very divisive figure within the party ahead of it, led to the overthrow or the rejection of Theresa May as the prime minister during the Brexit departure and Brexit process.

And the minute it looked like he's been playing fast and loose with the truth, specifically over something that has affected so many people around the United Kingdom, as it has the United States, i.e., the COVID lockdowns, where the government specifically had told people to follow laws about social distancing, about not mixing even in the workplace, to see the prime minister then flouting those laws played into a perception of him as somebody who not only plays fast and loose with the truth, but somebody who reckons there's some rules for himself and other rules for others, that sort of elitist kind of approach, which can really get the back up of British — the British public.

This is combined by the fact that people are a bit worried, having just returned from a sort of spring break, as we have had over here, a late spring break, a sort of half-term recess for Parliament, people heard when they got back home the results of what's called the Sue Gray report, a report by a British civil servant that was delayed, has really hit home.

The fact that the prime minister in the previous police investigation received a fixed penalty notice, it's not a criminal thing, but it is a fine for breaking the law, and the fact that this happened under his watch, and that his apologies have been sort of half-hearted, so, I apologize for what happened, rather than apologizing what he did, I think is really getting under the skin of M.P.s in particular.

William Brangham:

So he makes it through this vote, but is he wounded politically? Like, what does the future look like for Boris Johnson?

Robin Niblett:

Well, I think he's definitely wounded.

This — the amount of M.P.s who voted against him, 148 out of the 359 — so it was a 211-148 turn. That's sort of 59 to 41 percent. That is a much higher number than I think people expected and certainly than I expected and others expected.

There are 173 Conservative members of Parliament who have sort of government-type positions or positions granted by the prime minister. So, you would expect him to have at least 175, 173 completely loyal. What it means is that the country can see that the party he leads is divided, and that close to half of it is very skeptical of his value as a leader and are worried about the future.

So I think this undermines his future agenda. It means that, on issues where there are particular parliamentarians who disagree, maybe over this Northern Ireland protocol that's a hangover from the Brexit treaty or over immigration policy or even over tax, he's only got an 80-seat majority. It sounded like a lot.

But when you have got 148 members of your own party voting against you, they could use any close vote as a chance to undermine his authority.

William Brangham:

This storm, of course, is happening right as your nation is celebrating the reign of Queen Elizabeth and this wonderful jubilee celebration that was happening.

But anyone couldn't help but notice that, because of her health, she was only able to attend some of those events. And we saw the next king, Prince Charles, is going to — was stepping into that role.

How is that transition going to be going forward?

Robin Niblett:

Well, that transition will go forward, if you see what I mean, when it goes forward.

There's a very clear succession process, to state the obvious. Prince Charles will become the next king. And, obviously, there's a succession that runs on past him.

I think, however, just, again, to state the obvious, 70 years is, well, the longest that the U.K. has ever had a monarch. And so this is a monarch that has taken the country through so many changes, from a country that really was emerging from, in some cases, the rubble of the Second World War through to an entirely modern, changed, multiethnic, multicultural society.

Look, Prince Charles has been preparing for this role a long time. But there's no doubt that his capacity to earn the trust of the British public will need to be earned. It won't simply carry over from his mother. And at a time when people are looking at Britain's role in the world, the still hangovers of the U.K. and the queen, the head of state being the head of state of a number of former colonies, people are going to be looking at that role again and questioning whether this critical aspect of British soft power quite has the pull that it had before.

It'll be a difficult transition.

William Brangham:

Robin Niblett of Chatham House, thank you so much for being here.

Robin Niblett:

Thank you.