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Tory voters call for ‘finished’ Boris Johnson’s resignation

Some Conservatives said they will vote for Labour after the Prime Minister admitted attending a party at Downing Street during lockdown.

Gemma Bradley
Wednesday 12 January 2022 10:00 EST
A protester in Parliament Square in Westminster, London (PA)
A protester in Parliament Square in Westminster, London (PA) (PA Wire)

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Tory voters have called for the Prime Minister’s resignation after he admitted attending a “bring your own booze” gathering in the garden of No 10 during England’s first lockdown.

Many have said they will not vote for the party if Boris Johnson stays in charge, with one Twitter user saying the Prime Minister is “finished”.

It comes after the Prime Minister told the House of Commons on Wednesday he “believed implicitly” that the May 2020 occasion was a work event, but that he “should have sent everyone back inside” and apologised to MPs.

John Coleman 47, an English teacher from Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, said he may vote Labour in the next election as a result.

Posting on Twitter, he said: “I speak as a Conservative voter and former party member… this government needs to fall and it needs to fall now!! Amoral leadership #JohnsonOutNow.”

Speaking to the PA news agency, he added: “At the moment it is highly unlikely I will vote Conservative next time round. There are too many sycophants and lightweights in Cabinet and an amoral clown at the top.

“He is finished. He is either incompetent or lying. He needs to resign.”

Mary Gater, a lifelong Tory voter whose father’s funeral in February 2021 had limited attendance due to Covid restrictions, told PA she will seriously consider voting differently in a future election if the Prime Minister is still in charge.

“He has acknowledged he did wrong, but it is difficult to reconcile his responses because the damage is now done,” the 58-year-old self-employed designer from Malpas, in Cheshire, told the PA news agency.

“I doubt he does understand the sacrifices and quite frankly the horrors some of us have endured.

“I could be very bitter I am not at all… I am merely tired of the lies and complete lack of empathy.”

Nick Peterson, a 33-year-old architect from London, said that he believes the Prime Minister thinks that despite widespread outrage, he will not face any serious repercussions.

Mr Peterson said: “I think he knows the inquiry will not be disastrous. That he’ll be able to ride it out and survive regardless of the damage the story has done to the reputation of the Government.”

Mr Peterson also said that he would rather abstain than vote for the current Conservative Government in the next election.

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