A defiant Boris Johnson has turned on Tory opponents demanding he resign, telling them their criticism “doesn’t matter” and so they don’t have any coverage concepts.
Speaking 24 hours after two disastrous by-election defeats, the prime minister refused to simply accept he “personally contributed” to them via his lawbreaking behaviour within the Partygate scandal.
Mr Johnson additionally made clear he was not able to some “sort of psychological transformation” to vary his character, saying: “I think our listeners will know that’s not going to happen.”
Instead, he dismissed senior Conservative figures calling for him to go – together with former leaders Michael Howard and William Hague – arguing they don’t seem to be placing ahead any various.
The prime minister claimed the “only argument of substance” made by any of his critics was “for us to go back into the EU single market”.
And he instructed BBC Radio 4: “As a leader you have to try to distinguish between criticism that really matters and the criticism that doesn’t matter.”
Mr Johnson was interviewed as Tory rebels to grab management of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers in elections subsequent month, to power a rule change to permit one other no-confidence vote.
That might be held within the autumn if the looming contempt inquiry into whether or not he lied to parliament over the No 10 events is damning.
But the prime minister sought to place a constructive spin on solely 59 per cent of his MPs backing him on this month’s confidence vote, claiming: “I have a renewed mandate from my colleagues and I’m going to continue to deliver.”
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Source: www.unbiased.co.uk