Published June 6, 2022
Politicians would normally be delighted with a 59 to 41 percent victory. But Boris Johnson’s survival of a no-confidence vote by that margin on Monday is devastating. The question is no longer whether he goes, but when.
There is no mistaking that this is a dismal result for the British prime minister. Theresa May won the challenge against her in late 2018 by a 63 to 37 percent vote, but was forced to resign within months as it became clear she was dragging the Conservative Party toward defeat. Margaret Thatcher won her last leadership challenge with only 54 percent of the party. The great lady was not for turning, but she stepped down within a day of that rebuke.
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Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies and provides commentary on American politics. His work focuses on how America’s political order is being upended by populist challenges, from the left and the right. He also studies populism’s impact in other democracies in the developed world.
Image: Sylvania Cakes, Flickr
Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, studies and provides commentary on American politics. His work focuses on how America’s political order is being upended by populist challenges, from the left and the right. He also studies populism’s impact in other democracies in the developed world.