Conservative MPs have been warned they run the risk of losing their seats if they leave Boris Johnson as leader.
Despite the current unpopularity of the Prime Minister, who saw him booed by voters when he arrived at the Platinum Jubilee Thanksgiving service on Friday at St. Paul’s Cathedral, a government source said he was still “a machine winner of the election “.
Johnson is fighting the demands of his own MPs for a vote of confidence in his leadership, which could arrive next week.
More than 40 Conservative MPs have openly called for his removal, and at least 17 have sent letters of censure to 1922 committee chairman Sir Graham Brady, who must call a vote if the total reaches 54.
The release of Sue Gray’s report on the Partygate scandal last month has sparked a wave of new letters, and Johnson’s supporters fear pressure for his removal will intensify if the Conservatives lose the by-elections. Wakefield and Tiverton & Honiton on June 23rd.
In a statement to the newspaper, a senior government source said none of the potential Conservative alternative leaders had the same ability as Johnson to attract voters to the Red Wall constituencies in the Midlands and North, which seized Labor. in 2019.
“If you throw Boris, destroy the Red Wall,” the source said. “He is the only leader who holds him together.
“Boris’ tenure in 2019 was broad and extends to parts of the country that no Conservative leader has in a generation.
“It’s a huge, huge call, two years away from an election, to tell an election-winning machine that time is up.”
The source also said Mr Johnson was in a better position than his possible replacements to defend the traditionally conservative Blue Wall seats under pressure from Liberal Democrats in the south and rural areas.
“Boris has shown that he understands the traditional sensitivity of Blue Wall and it will be important for him in time to then want to prove it and prove it,” the source said.