The Times - UK (2022-06-08)

the times | Wednesday June 8 2022 2GM 7

News

Funding pledge

ensured loyalty

of island MP

Geraldine Scott

A Conservative MP has revealed that

he voted to keep Boris Johnson as

leader of his party after ministers told

him long-promised funding for his con-

stituency would be reviewed.

Bob Seely, MP for the Isle of Wight,

said “foolish errors were made during

partygate” and that he had backed the

prime minister “only after discussion

with senior ministers”.

Seely told The Times that the promise

of more funding for the island’s council

was made to him by Johnson three

years ago, “about which I reminded the

government yesterday”.

The admission follows reports that

some MPs were offered government

jobs in return for their loyalty.

The prime minister’s official spokes-

man said: “The way government

money is spent is done in a set way with

funding scrutinised through a civil ser-

vice process.”

Boris Johnson is being urged by cabinet

ministers to sack members of the pay-

roll who did not announce that they

were backing him in Monday’s confi-

dence vote.

Thirteen members of Johnson’s gov-

ernment have not publicly confirmed

which way they voted in Monday’s bal-

lot. The scale of the opposition to John-

son means that both loyalists and rebels

alike believe that dozens of ministers

and government aides are likely to have

voted against him in the secret ballot.

A cabinet minister told The Times:

“The prime minister needs to stamp his

authority on the party. Some of the

newer MPs are furious at the way

people on the payroll have behaved.

We’ve had ministers voting against

him. He may be nervous about a re-

shuffle but he’s going to find it very hard

to resist.”

Of the more than 140 MPs who make

up the payroll vote, five ministers and

eight parliamentary private secretaries

(PPSs) have not said how they voted, al-

though one questioned the idea that his

statements about the vote had been

protocol will widen Tory divide

News

Would anyone be safe during

revenge reshuffle to bolster PM?

Boris Johnson is under pressure from

some allies to reshuffle his cabinet as

a way of wresting back authority over

Conservative MPs.

But if Johnson opts for a wide-

ranging reshuffle even some of his

most senior ministers may be at risk.

Having been hailed for deft and

imaginative schemes during the

Covid-19 pandemic, Sunak is

enduring the roughest ride of his

political career. Less than a fortnight

ago he unveiled a £21 billion package

to help with the cost-of-living crisis

but he will come under renewed

pressure to cut taxes. Despite some

signs of splits on economic policy,

Boris Johnson has publicly assured

Sunak that he is safe in his job.

Strength rating: 3/

Truss is generally regarded by

Conservative MPs to have performed

creditably during the Ukraine war.

Complaints that she is too focused on

Instagram-friendly photo

opportunities have receded

somewhat, but her very public

lobbying for more defence spending

may have irked Downing Street.

Strength rating: 3/

The only one of Johnson’s great

officers of state who has survived

through his premiership, Patel is

nevertheless often considered a

prime candidate for demotion.

Utterly loyal to Johnson, she has

been an object of frustration among

Conservative MPs for her failure to

solve the migrant boats issue. The

asylum deal with Rwanda is generally

popular in the party but there are

questions over how plausible it will

be in practice. Once a grassroots

superstar, Patel is now one of the

least popular cabinet ministers with

party members according to

ConservativeHome.

Strength rating: 2/

As levelling up secretary, Gove was

given the task last year of putting

flesh on the bones of Johnson’s

domestic policy. But a white paper

this year was deemed lacklustre by

some Conservatives after he failed to

extract extra money from Sunak for

it. Gove has a famously complicated

relationship with the prime minister

but his reputation for delivery means

he is probably safe.

Strength rating: 3/

Wallace has become a leading light

since the withdrawal from

Afghanistan and the Ukraine crisis

thrust him to the centre of events. He

is by far the most popular cabinet

minister with party members.

Johnson rebuked him after he asked

for more spending on the armed

forces but their relationship is secure.

Strength rating: 5/

In his sixth cabinet job in just eight

years, Javid steered the government

through the last intense phases of the

pandemic, though some

Conservatives were disappointed that

he quickly lost some of his libertarian

instincts in the job. His focus now is

on clearing the waiting lists backlog

and NHS reorganisation, both issues

fraught with political difficulty.

Strength rating: 3/

Princess Anne

and Boris

Johnson

yesterday at a

reception for

Falklands

veterans.

The reception,

held in

Speaker’s

Court at the

Palace of

Westminster,

marked 40

years since

the conflict

LEON NEAL - WPA POOL /GETTY IMAGES

Rishi Sunak

Chancellor

Liz Truss

Foreign secretary

Priti Patel

Home secretary

Michael Gove

Levelling up secretary

Ben Wallace

Defence secretary

Sajid Javid

Health secretary

ambiguous. The ministers who have

still not confirmed that they backed

the prime minister include Alex

Chalk, the solicitor-general; John

Glen, a Treasury minister; Vicky

Ford, a Foreign Office minister;

Johnson urged to sack ministers ‘for disloyalty’

Maria Caulfield, a health minister; and

Jo Churchill, an environment minister.

Yesterday Churchill published a

statement on her website in which she

said that she was “appalled at the cul-

ture of drinking and poor behaviour

among individuals in parts of Downing

Street and the Cabinet Office during

the pandemic”. She said that she was

“proud of this government’s record” but

did not say she had voted for Johnson.

One of the PPSs who did not declare

their support for Johnson said they had

never been asked by the whips to pub-

licly back him. They added: “Why do

we need everyone saying the same

thing at the same time? Do we think

that persuades a single person?”

On Monday night Johnson held a

meeting with 20 allies in which some

urged him to sack those who did not

declare loyalty. However, a former

minister said that a reshuffle would

be unwise. “He’s not strong enough

for a revenge reshuffle. If people are

advising him that now is the time to

get tough, he’s getting bad advice.”

A senior government source sug-

gested that a reshuffle was more likely

later in the summer.

Henry Zeffman, Steven Swinford Mystery votes

Alex Chalk

Solicitor-general

John Glen

Economic secretary to

the Treasury

Vicky Ford

Africa minister

Maria Caulfield

Minister for patient

safety and primary care

Jo Churchill

Environment minister

Jane Hunt

Cabinet Office PPS

Duncan Baker

Levelling up PPS

James Davies

Health PPS

Felicity Buchan

Business PPS

Flick Drummond

Work and pensions PPS

David Johnston

Education PPS

Selaine Saxby

Environment

PPS

Laura Trott

Transport

PPS

Vicky Ford, left, and

Maria Caulfield were

among those who did

not openly back

Johnson