Assessing the damage: can Boris Johnson recover from narrow confidence vote win?
Prime minister tries to move on from ‘historic’ rebellion as critic warns of Tory civil war

Boris Johnson is attempting to reset his premiership and prove he is still able to govern following a bruising confidence vote in which more than 40% of his own MPs indicated he no longer had their support.
The vote, which showed 211 Tory MPs back the prime minister and 148 now oppose him, “exposed deep rifts within the Conservative Party that will pose a continuing threat to Johnson’s authority as he tries to lead the party into the next election”, said The Times.
Put in context, the margin of victory is less than that granted to Theresa May in a confidence vote in December 2018. She was ousted less than seven months later.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What is the reaction from MPs and the press?
This morning’s headlines made grim reading for the prime minister, with The Guardian labelling him “humiliated”, The Times, Financial Times and iNews all calling him “wounded”, and even the normally supportive Daily Mail saying the “bombshell result” had “weakened” his position.
The Telegraph noted that “the size of the rebellion was greater than those faced by Theresa May, John Major and Margaret Thatcher in similar votes”, warning that Johnson’s “hollow victory could tear the Tories apart”.
In this weekly column in The Times, former Tory leader William Hague said that “the nature of this particular revolt makes it qualitatively as well as quantitatively devastating” for the prime minister, saying that while he survived the night, the damage done to his premiership is “severe” and has made his position “unsustainable”.
One Tory MP described as a “loyalist” by the Mail said the vote marked “the first day of the civil war”, while a former cabinet minister told the paper the prime minister now faced “death by a thousand cuts”.
What will happen next?
In an attempt to draw a line under the last few months dominated by Partygate, Politico said the prime minister “will try to shift the dial by vowing to turn his attention to the biggest issues facing the country including the economy, crime and health backlogs. A series of set-piece events over the rest of the month will seek to move the focus away from what a No. 10 source called ‘distracting, diversionary and self-obsessed’ internecine Tory warfare.”
The Guardian reported that Johnson will attempt to “reassert control of the political agenda” this week by confirming the government will table legislation to override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, “a move likely to further inflame tensions with some of his party critics”, said the paper. A reshuffle could also be on the cards.
Safe… for now
Under current party rules, Johnson cannot face another challenge from his own MPs for at least 12 months. However, rebels have hinted the rules could be changed to allow another confidence vote well before that.
One of Johnson’s key critics, Tobias Ellwood, warned that the strength of feeling against him was so great that he had just months to turn it around.
Harry Lambert in The New Statesman says the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, which administers the confidence votes, has two windows for adjusting the rules. The first is after the two upcoming by-elections in Wakefield and in Tiverton and Honiton on 23 June, both of which the Tories are expected to lose.
“If the 1922 believes that a majority of the party wants another vote against Johnson, the executive has the power to change the rules and call another vote,” Lambert wrote. “The current executive may well be willing to do so, but if they are not, a new executive is set to be elected in the autumn.
“Rebels are confident they will be able to win enough seats on that executive to change the rules then, if they have not already done so, and if that is still necessary. Boris Johnson is far from safe.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Store closings could accelerate throughout 2025
Under the Radar Major brands like Macy's and Walgreens are continuing to shutter stores
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: February 20, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku hard: February 20, 2025
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Who is actually running DOGE?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The White House said in a court filing that Elon Musk isn't the official head of Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency task force, raising questions about just who is overseeing DOGE's federal blitzkrieg
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How will Keir Starmer pay for greater defence spending?
Today's Big Question Funding for courts, prisons, local government and the environment could all be at risk
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Why are Europe's leaders raising red flags about Trump's Ukraine overtures to Putin?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Officials from across the continent warn that any peace plan without their input is doomed from the start
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Left on read: Labour's WhatsApp dilemma
Talking Point Andrew Gwynne has been sacked as health minister over messages posted in a Labour WhatsApp group
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
How will closing USAID exacerbate humanitarian problems around the world?
Today's Big Question The Trump administration shuttered USAID as part of an overall freeze on foreign aid
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Is El Salvador's offer to jail US deportees of any nationality feasible or fantasy?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The Trump administration is considering a surprise proposal from the Central American nation to incarcerate American deportees — including US citizens
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How is Canada readying its arsenal for a trade war with the US?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The United States' northern neighbor is wasting no time when it comes to Donald Trump's tariffs and the looming threat of a North American trade war
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Is Ron DeSantis losing steam in Florida?
Today's Big Question Legislative Republicans defy a lame-duck governor
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published