‘Deep state’ may try to reverse Brexit, warns Johnson

Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now set to see out seven more weeks in office after winning a confidence vote on Monday (18 July), during which he vigorously defended his government’s record and hinted that the so-called ‘deep state’ might try to reverse Brexit. 

After winning the confidence vote by 349 to 238, a majority of 111, Johnson will remain in post until a new leader of the governing Conservative party is named on 5 September.

In a highly unusual move, the government called the vote of confidence in itself after it rejected a Labour motion that singled out Johnson for censure. Holding the debate and vote was a largely symbolic move by the Labour opposition, which wanted to highlight the contradiction between Conservative MPs deciding to oust Johnson earlier this month after a series of scandals about his honesty and integrity but still voting in favour of his government. 

In another bad-tempered debate, the heaviest blow was landed by Scottish National Party lawmaker Stewart McDonald who described Johnson’s administration as “a Government in name only, it’s essentially now a form of organised Tory hooliganism that squats in these offices of state, that squats in these departments and squats most of all in Downing Street.” 

In language used more by conspiracy theorists, Johnson hinted that with him out of office, “the deep state” would try to “haul back us into alignment with the EU as a prelude to our eventual return”. 

Meanwhile, the Conservative party leadership race to replace Johnson is now down to four candidates after Tom Tugendhat, the centrist chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee was eliminated in the latest round of voting by Tory MPs on Monday evening. 

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who polled 115 votes in the latest round, only needs another five votes to ensure his place as one of the two candidates in the run-off among the party’s 150,000 members.

Of the three other candidates vying for the second spot, trade minister Penny Mordaunt on 82 votes is slightly ahead of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on 71 and junior minister Kemi Badenoch, also from the party’s right, on 58 votes, having campaigned on an ‘anti-woke’ platform. 

Two further rounds of voting will take place on Tuesday to determine the two final candidates, and the transfer of votes from eliminated candidates will be decisive in determining the result. Internal surveys suggest that Mordaunt has lost the initial advantage among Conservative party members to rival candidates. 

Sunak is the only one of the candidates who would immediately reduce Labour’s opinion poll lead over the Conservatives, suggesting that he is the most likely to win a general election. 

However, the leadership contest has been marked by personal attacks by several candidates, prompting the final television debate planned for Monday evening to be cancelled as the Conservative party seeks to avoid a civil war. 

[Edited by Alice Taylor]

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