'Our best hopes reside with what is called the so-called 1922 Committee'

MP for Ellesmere Port

It has been a very busy time in my office in the last few days as my staff and I set out to respond to numerous constituents who are angry about revelations of all the antics at Downing Street during the pandemic.

Almost all of the emails and letters sent to me call for Boris Johnson to be removed from office. They are aghast that he still holds the keys to 10 Downing Street.

But some of my concerned constituents wonder how we as a nation go about ensuring we rid ourselves of Prime Ministers who are clearly not up to the job.

Referring to all of Mr Johnson’s ‘wrongdoings’ one constituent asked me: “Who has the authority to sack him? Is it the Queen?”

Well it is certainly not Her Majesty who, other than meeting Prime Ministers for regular briefings and presiding at State openings of Parliament, never gets involved in the nitty gritty of Party politics.

And as we potentially will have to wait until May 2024 before a General Election has to be called, it will not be down to the electorate any time soon.

So our best hopes reside with what is called the so-called 1922 Committee. Comprising all Conservative backbencher MPs, the committee meets weekly while Parliament is in session and provides a way for backbenchers to co-ordinate their views independently of their frontbench superiors.

Because there are so many Tory MPs in this Parliament after their landslide victory in 2019, it will take 54 of them to hand in letters of no confidence in Mr Johnson to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady, MP for Altrincham and Sale West, before a challenge to the leadership can be mounted.

So far only about half a dozen Tory MPs have put their heads above the parapet and called publicly for Mr Johnson’s resignation, on the grounds that it would be untenable for him to remain in his seat of power. Whether a number of others have done so privately is likely but it anyone’s guess as numbers are never revealed until the magic 54 threshold is reached.

What is certain is that a lot of manoeuvring will be going on behind the scenes by those who think they might be in with a chance of taking over at 10 Downing Street, with Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tipped as frontrunners.

The Conservative Party has a reputation for ruthlessness once it is decided the fortunes of any Prime Minister have taken a turn for the worse, so do not be surprised if Boris Johnson ends up facing a challenge to his leadership.

Too many voters have had enough of his inability to be straightforward with the electorate – to put it kindly – and have already decided it is time for him to go.

Irrespective of who leads the Conservative Party, there are so many challenges facing our country that my Opposition colleagues and I in Parliament cannot wait for the next General Election.

It cannot come a moment too soon.