Sajid Javid just resigned

[achillestoes]

That’s all.

Johnson can call an election any time he wants to - he does not need party approval. He simply advises the Queen.

he has already raised the prospect - I agree it needs to go to an election. It needs to be settled

I really don’t want that but then I don’t want Starmer and his band taking over

It’s hard enough hearing them now

I’m interested in what you say though, can he just call it

He’s PM so he can call a snap election, but the risks are: he’d lose his seat, MPs would decline to stand because they couldn’t support him going to the country without the support of the parliamentary party, he’d win and have so little support in the party that we would just have to have the VONC again.

The bottom line is extremely simple: no PM can continue without a majority of MPs onside. No agenda would progress and it would be destructive for everyone.

Mordaunt, though...

He has nothing to lose, and still has a huge following. You are underestimating him

@Provenceinthesummer

Not at all. I think Johnson is a gifted politician and respect (to an extent) his determination. But I respect democracy more.

If it happens I hope you are right. The end of this being Starmer elected is not desirable

I think partygate has been hugely damaging - that slow repetition dominating the news created by someone who can play the public well - but maybe he can weather it, I’m not sure

I think this very much depends what street 'the man' or woman is on.

I think we deserve to retain our democracy. I
think most people would accept the result of a GE.

Mike Freer just resigned.

Independent research indicates you're underestimating public opinion against him.

People didn’t vote for another Tory, they voted for Boris

The only people who voted for him are the constituents in Uxbridge. If we follow your (ridiculous) logic May shouldn’t have been PM.

@Provenceinthesummer

A general election would just make Johnson an MP for Uxbridge. He has to have the support of the Tory party to govern.

Nope he can call a snap election now as PM

But even if he keeps his seat, the 1922 committee will still unseat him through a VONC if he doesn’t have the support of the party. He can’t govern on the basis of the support of the people of Uxbridge.

He’s on Times Radio atm with privileges committee

it’s less febrile that the PMQ environment

Yes he can continue to govern, in a snap election pro Boris MPs will be chosen to stand therefore making a VONC a non issue.

I have just spent the time checking voting records and all bar a few every single resignation comes from remain. No surprise really.

This is orchestrated, co ordinated action.

You think pro Johnson candidates would get elected? You’re in fairy land.

How very Trumpian.....

Power at any price.

What a dreadful thing to support and try to justify.

The simple fact is that the 1922 shouldn't have to get rid of Boris. Any politician with a basic smattering of integrity would have resigned long before now.

But here we are and BJ is guaranteed to do what's best for him regardless of the consequences to his party and the country.

So I wouldn't rule out a purge of the party and a snap election but that's not cause for celebration. It's a very bad day for British politics.

Kemi Badenoch resigned ... twitter.com/KemiBadenoch/status/1544673839363268616

Even a snap election would not do him any good. It’s not a mandate to lead the Conservative party.

But it looks increasingly likely that he will do that.

Noises re Zahawi being part of a group to approach PM

people are just going for it in liaison committee, sad really

(not privileges)

In theory he could.

However he also has the reality of how does he fund an election without the support of his party MPs?

He could appoint pro-Johnson candidates, but there is the question of just how many would he need to appoint and whether Tory party grassroots would support this too.

Theres the physical issue of running an election without your manpower from the Tory Party.

So in practice he knows that this really isn't viable as a strategy. He's run election campaigns before. He needs enough people to manage to do this.

As it stands with Cabinet Ministers apparently telling him its time, he hasn't got this. If he tried to do it he'd spark either a constitutional crisis or a party crisis.

Ultimately Trump couldn't do it without the backing on his party. Thats probably more true of Johnson.

Game Up if rumours about the Cabinet revolt really are true and I very much suspect they are.

It’s all over except for the tweets, really.