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Boris Johnson faces a showdown with Tory MPs furious over his government’s chaotic handling of Covid-19, as a new poll shows Tories have given up a massive lead over Labor in just five months.
As MPs prepare to return to Westminster on Tuesday, Charles Walker, who is vice chairman of the 1922 committee of conservative advocates, told the Observer that a recent series of U-turns had left many colleagues in despair, with some struggling to support and defend their government to voters. Governing the U-turn in this way, he said, was unsustainable.
Walker, who is usually counted as a staunch Johnson supporter, said: “Too often this administration seems to lick its finger and stick it in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. This is not a sustainable way to approach the issue of government and government.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult for MPs to promote and defend government policy, as policy is so often changed or abandoned without prior notice. Whether this approach is by design or by accident, the climate of uncertainty it creates is unsustainable and erodes morale. “
Walker and the chairman of the 1922 committee, Sir Graham Brady, hope that their angry colleagues will “listen” to them when MPs meet in the House of Commons, before relaying those concerns and the strength of sentiment to No. 10. “We need to take the temperature on Tuesday and Wednesday and then decide what the plan of action is,” said a source from the 1922 committee.
The recent exam fiasco and other sudden policy changes, most recently over the use of face masks in schools, led many Conservative MPs to believe that Johnson and his cabinet ministers had lost control.
Conservative MPs, including many former ministers with extensive government experience, are also increasingly angered that their voices and concerns, and those of senior Whitehall officials with many years of service, are being ignored and dismissed as power and decision making are increasingly focused. in a small but inexperienced group inside Downing Street.
Today, in a further blow to conservative morale, an Opinium poll for the Observer it shows that Labor is now on par with the Tories for the first time since last summer, before Johnson led. In just five months since the prime minister imposed the total lockdown, the Tories have lost a 26-point lead over Labor, who are now shoulder-to-shoulder with the Tories at 40%.
Liberal Democrats under their new leader Ed Davey, who was elected last week, have 6%.
Opinium’s Adam Drummond said: “This is the first time the Labor Party has reached the level since July 2019, when the two main parties were in free fall and losing votes to the Brexit party and the Liberal Democrats.
Since Boris Johnson became prime minister, the Tories generally had a double-digit lead, peaking in March / April this year when they were seen to be handling the pandemic and lockdown quite well as Labor switched gears. Leader. In the five months since that peak, the lead has gradually decreased from 26% to 0% now. “
Anxious Conservative MPs are particularly frustrated by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson’s handling of the A-level and GCSE outcomes crisis. With schools reopening in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for the first time since March starting Tuesday, MPs and ministers believe Williamson will not survive if the return to education is plunged into further chaos.
Yesterday, teachers and their unions launched further attacks on Williamson after his department issued last-minute guidance to schools on how to deal with the Covid-19 outbreaks, giving them only a few days to react, after having asked for during months said orientation and having been fired.
Johnson is due to appear before the powerful liaison committee of senior representatives of the House of Commons on Sept. 16, during which deputies from all parties will pressure him to explain the shortcomings of his government.
On the same day, Williamson will appear before the all-party education select committee.
At the end of March, shortly after Johnson imposed the total blockade, the Conservatives advanced with 54% of the votes, and Labor, awaiting the result of the party’s leadership election, with 28%. At the time, Johnson’s personal ratings were also very positive, but now they are far behind those of Labor leader Keir Starmer.
