Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge MP James Heappey said he backed Boris Johnson in Monday’s confidence vote.
Boris Johnson won the backing of a majority of Tory MPs in the confidence vote despite a significant revolt against his leadership. The PM won 59% of the vote.
Mr Heappey said before Monday night’s vote: “I’ve been uncomfortable with much of what’s emerged about events in No 10 during Covid lockdowns. But the UK faces enormous economic and security challenges that can’t be wished away.”
”This is a time for Government to deliver, not squabble amongst itself. I’ll be supporting the PM this evening.”
“We can’t keep changing Prime Ministers between elections. It happened in 2005-10, 15-17 & 17-19. A 7th PM since 2007 adds to the febrile and increasingly toxic way our public discourse and politics is going. Yes people disagree with us, yes they’re making it uncomfortable, but the country needs stability.”
“The public returned a majority Conservative Government because they subscribed to the PM’s vision of a levelled-up post-Brexit Britain. There are 2 years left in this Parliament to deliver that and we must work hard to do so. It’s on that record that we should hope to be judged at the election.”
In all, 211 Tory MPs voted they had confidence in the PM’s leadership while 148 voted against him.
The result sees the prime minister remain in office, but critics said the scale of the rebellion against him showed his authority had been weakened, with some calling on him to resign.
