Even as Boris Johnson prepared to talk to President Putin in an attempt to avert the threat of war in Europe, a senior Tory MP announced he had submitted a letter of no confidence in his Premiership.
Tobias Ellwood, 55, member for Bournemouth East, is no ordinary MP. He has been portrayed by the media as something of a hero ever since he tried to save the life of a policeman who had been mortally wounded in a terrorist attack outside parliament in 2017.
Ellwood is a former soldier who served with the Royal Green Jackets and reached the rank of captain. He was a minister at the ministry of defence from 2017 to 2019, and is currently chairman of the Commons defence select committee. The British like his sort of courageous Englishman.
To force a leadership contest, 54 Tory MPs — 15 per cent of the parliamentary party — have to submit letters of no confidence to Graham Brady, chairman of the “1922 committee” which represents backbench members.
So far it is known that about a dozen MPs have submitted letters because of their unease over Boris’s response to “Partygate”. Speaking on Wednesday, Ellwood said: “I believe it’s time for the Prime Minister to take a grip of this; he himself should call a vote of confidence rather than waiting for the inevitable 54 letters to be eventually submitted. “It’s time to resolve this completely so the party can get back to governing, and, yes, I know the next question you will ask — I will be submitting my letter today to the 1922 Committee.” Later, he confirmed he had.
He said: “This is just horrible for all MPs to continuously have to defend this to the British public. The government’s acknowledged the need for fundamental change, culture, make-up, discipline, the tone of No 10, but the strategy has been one, it seems, of survival, of rushed policy announcements like the navy taking over the migrant Channel crossings.”
He added: “I don’t think the prime minister realises how worried colleagues are in every corner of the party, backbenchers and ministers alike, that this is all only going one way and will invariably slide towards a very ugly place.”
Ellwood called on the prime minister to “cut to the chase, to call a vote of confidence in himself” and said the party was on a “glide path to a very, very dark place”. He alleged the Prime Minister had not shown enough “contrition” in his Commons statement on Sue Gray’s report, on Monday, and had already had plenty of time to make the changes he had promised.
He praised Boris’s “energy and enthusiasm” but insisted: “The domestic and international challenges now require a new leader and that’s why I have submitted a letter.”
Most people in Britain remember the events of 23 March 2017 when Khalid Masood, 52, killed five people in an attack in Westminster. One of the victims, who was stabbed, was Keith Palmer, a police constable on duty at the gates to parliament.
At considerable risk to himself, Ellwood cradled the dying police officer.
He later told an inquest: “My brother was killed in a secondary attack in Bali … so I was very aware of that. I was concerned about what would happen if things were to ratchet up, but my immediate concern was that we had somebody who was clearly badly bleeding and needed assistance.”
Ellwood said he persisted with efforts to perform CPR on Palmer until a doctor at the scene told him there was nothing more that could be done.
“I looked at him and said: ‘You’re going to have to tell me to stop. You must order me to stop – make that decision,’” the MP said. According to Ellwood, the medic responded: “Sir, you have done your best but you do need to stop.”
When someone like Ellwood comes out against the prime minister, it must raise questions about Boris’s future.
On Wednesday, his government did announce detailed “levelling up” plans aimed at bringing better economic times to the more deprived parts of Britain.
He is also trying to show leadership over Ukraine.
But his problems are not going away. It has been alleged when his former adviser turned foe, Dominic Cummings, was sacked from Downing Street, a celebration party was held in Boris’s flat on 13 November 2020, with his wife, Carrie, blasting out the Abba number, The Winner Takes It All.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Boris refused to confirm press reports that he was at that party.
Anthony Mangnall, Tory MP for Totnes and South Devon, also revealed shortly after Prime Minister’s Questions that he, too, had submitted a no-confidence letter.
He tweeted: “At this time I can no longer support the PM. His actions and mistruths are overshadowing the extraordinary work of so many excellent ministers.”
And a former minister told the BBC: “The end is almost inevitable.”
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