Boris Johnson has had a surprisingly positive 24 hours since receiving a police fine. While not exactly positive, today’s front pages are far from a nightmare selection. A number of Tory-leaning papers call for a sense of perspective with the Daily Mail asking of the PM’s critics ‘don’t they know there’s a war on?’.
On hearing the news that Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak had each received a fixed penalty notice, most Tory MPs came out to defend rather than attack the Prime Minister (see The Spectator’s updated list here). Notably, Roger Gale who had previously put in a no-confidence letter said that now was not the time to oust a Prime Minister and that he backed Johnson.
The vast majority of cabinet ministers have publicly backed Johnson too – with a high number managing to shoehorn in the phrase ‘just getting on with the job’. Crucially, the Prime Minister has managed to hold on to his Chancellor. It was notable that Sunak stayed quiet until 8 p.m. on Wednesday night – the silence fuelled talk that he was considering his position. Had the Chancellor resigned, it would have put pressure on Johnson to do the same – and led to nerves among Tory MPs that the current position is unsustainable.
So, what happens next? In Downing Street, aides take the view that Johnson will be able to ride this out. It helps that the fine relates to a birthday cake during work hours as opposed to some of the more colourful lockdown breaches, which involve partying and late-night drinking. But this is also one of the reasons Johnson is not yet out of the woods.
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