Labor leader Keir Starmer gives legitimacy to Johnson’s interim mandate with opportunist motion
The acting Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, has informed the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, that his Government will not give parliamentary time this Wednesday to propose a vote of no confidence against the Government and against the Prime Minister in the Chamber of the Commons. Johnson is scheduled to step down from him in September.
The convention is that precedence is given in the House of Commons to motions of censure against the Government. They can also be presented against the prime minister or against one of the members of his Cabinet, but in this case they have no precedence and the opposition can be forced to wait for a specific day dedicated to debating their initiatives.
Johnson announced last Thursday that he will leave his position as leader of the Conservative Party when the internal electoral process ends on September 5. Conservative voices then demanded that he immediately leave Downing Street, but the waters have calmed and attention has shifted to the electoral battle between the candidates to succeed him.
Labor Starmer tabled the motion in the House for a vote on Wednesday. He justified it as an instrument that would allow him to denounce the conservative group for “coming to the conclusion that Johnson is not suitable for the head of government and letting him stay for weeks.”
Downing Street responded to the motion by explaining the conventions and announcing that it would accept a no-confidence motion against the Government. The conservative parliamentary group would possibly reject it, so as not to alter the transition. According to a poll, Starmer is more valued than all the candidates who want to succeed Johnson, except for the former finance minister, Rishi Sunak.
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