Health Secretary Sajid Javid has warned Conservative rebels against pushing for a further vote of no-confidence in the prime minister.
When quizzed over whether the committee ought to make changes, Javid told Sky News: “Of course they shouldn’t change the rules. I thought you were asking me whether they can change the rules.
“There is no need to change any rules because we have had the ballot, it is a clear, decisive result and now we just get on with the job,” he went on.
While the rules surrounding the “no confidence” process are not published in the public domain, the Institute of Government says the rules can be changed at any time by the executive of the 1922 committee in consultation with the Conservative Party board.
The Independent have reported that rebel Conservative MPs are now bent on a rule change, given that that a further no-confidence vote on the prime minister is currently permitted after 12 months.
At first glance, the executive offices of the 1922 committee appear populated by MPs such as William Wragg, Nus Ghani, Gary Sambrook, and Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, who all have issued stark criticisms of Boris Johnson.
Javid also claimed that Johnson’s victory in Monday’s vote was a “clear and decisive win”.
He also suggested that rebels were now getting behind Johnson, stating: “speaking to colleagues after that vote yesterday, including some that I spoke to that publicly said they didn’t support the prime minister in the vote, but they’re democrats like all of us and they accept the result of the vote and they’re getting behind the prime minister.”
There is growing speculation that a reshuffle could be imminent, with the Telegraph reporting that Johnson is being urged to appoint his outspoken critic Jeremy Hunt as chancellor.
Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab yesterday argued that the debate over Boris Johnson’s leadership is “over” following Monday night’s vote of no confidence.
211 (around 58 per cent) MPs voted in favour of keeping Johnson at the helm, while 148 (around 41 per cent) voted to oust him.
In 2018, Theresa May won a vote of no confidence with the backing of 63 per cent of her own MPs.
However she resigned just months later as the threat of 1922 committee rule changes and a fresh no-confidence vote loomed.
In just over a fortnight the Conservatives will face two by-elections, in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton respectively, on 23 June.
Lacklustre results in these seats could prompt further complaints from Conservative MPs, laying the groundwork for possible 1922 rule changes.
In April the Metropolitan Police issued fines to both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak for violating Covid rules.
Johnson remains under investigation by the House of Commons privileges committee over whether he misled MPs via his comments on the Partygate affair.
