Conservative MPs in and around Bristol appear divided over the future of their leader and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, ahead of tonight’s vote on his position as leader. Loyal MPs including Jacob Rees Mogg and Jack Lopresti have already pledged their allegiance to Mr Johnson but another local MP has resigned his post and called on the Prime Minister to resign himself.
Three other Tory MPs in the Bristol area are yet to say publicly which way they will vote, although they have previously said the support the Prime Minister. Johnson loyalist Jacob Rees Mogg, the MP for North East Somerset - a constituency that includes Keynsham and Whitchurch Village on the edge of Bristol - said he would be backing the Prime Minister.
Mr Rees Mogg, who is the Government minister responsible for ‘Brexit Opportunities and Government efficiency’, shared an opinion piece written by fellow MP Steve Barclay, which called on Tory MPs to back the Prime Minister. “The time for navel-gazing has ended,” he said. “The British people gave Boris a mandate, Tory MPs would be wise to accept it,” he added. He also said the volume of the crowd's booing of the Prime Minister as he entered and left the Platinum Jubilee thanksgiving service over the weekend had been 'turned up'.
LIVE: Boris Johnson facing 'no confidence' vote tonight in Westminster
Filton and Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti said he would be backing Boris Johnson too. “I am supporting the PM today because he has delivered Brexit, the fastest vaccine roll-out in Europe, he is leading the international effort against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and he received an overwhelming mandate from the British people at the last General Election,” he tweeted.
Three other local MPs have not, as yet, said how they will be voting or whether they have confidence in the Prime Minister or not. The ballot is a secret one, so they could vote either way without having to make their decision public.
Luke Hall is the MP for Thornbury and Yate and is also the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Bristol Live has approached his office for a comment, but we are awaiting a response. In recent days, Mr Hall’s social media channels show he has been busy travelling to Devon to campaign for the Tories in the Tiverton by-election, but he has not commented publicly on the leadership issue.
Dr Liam Fox is the MP for North Somerset, and a staunch Brexiteer who has defended the Prime Minister in the past, despite not voting for him in the last leadership race and as a result being sacked from the Cabinet. He is yet to comment publicly on how he will vote today. In January and again in February, he mounted a staunch defence of the Prime Minister in the wake of allegations about lockdown-breaking parties at Number 10 Downing Street, saying it was 'not the time' for a leadership contest. Last week, he wrote to a constituent defending the Prime Minister over that scandal, saying Mr Johnson still had his support.
Kingswood MP Chris Skidmore has also not commented publicly yet on the leadership issue. He was made an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list last week.
Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose is the only local Tory MP to come out publicly against the Prime Minister. This morning, Monday, he resigned his position as the Prime Minister’s ‘anti-corruption champion’, said the Prime Minister broke the ministerial code, and should resign.
Penrose wrote: "I will always be grateful to you for getting Brexit done after the country voted to leave in the EU Referendum, for leading us to victory in the 2019 General Election, and for getting the country out of covid lockdown as early as was safely possible last year.
"But I hope you will understand that none of these can excuse or justify a fundamental breach of the Ministerial Code. As a result, I'm afraid it wouldn't be honourable or right for me to remain as your Anti-Corruption Champion after reaching this conclusion, nor for you to remain as Prime Minister either."
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