Boris Johnson latest news: Prime Minister meets Cabinet after no confidence vote, results and reaction to poll

Boris Johnson will use a Cabinet meeting today to show he is going to “get on with the job” after narrowly surviving a confidence vote on Monday.

The Prime Minister insisted he had secured a “decisive” victory despite 148 of his own MPs voting to oust him and argued the government could now “move on” and focus on what “really matters to people”.

Allies have rallied round Mr Johnson, but former Tory leader Lord William Hague said “the damage done to his premiership is severe” and he should quit rather than prolong the agony.

Lord Hague wrote in The Times: “While Johnson has survived the night, the damage done to his premiership is severe.

“Words have been said that cannot be retracted, reports published that cannot be erased, and votes have been cast that show a greater level of rejection than any Tory leader has ever endured and survived.

“Deep inside, he should recognise that, and turn his mind to getting out in a way that spares party and country such agonies and uncertainties.”

Tory MPs voted by 211 to 148 in support of Mr Johnson - a majority of jus 63 - but the scale of the revolt against his leadership left him wounded.

His result was worse than that of his predecessor Theresa May when she faced a confidence vote in 2018. She secured the support of 63% of her MPs, while the Prime Minister only received 59%. Mrs May was still forced out within six months of her leadership contest.

Mr Johnson claims the vote allows him to draw a line under the question of his leadership despite 41% of his MPs having no confidence in him.

As he prepared for a Cabinet meeting in No 10, he said: “This is a government that delivers on what the people of this country care about most.

“We have pledged £37 billion to support households with their finances, made our communities safer through hiring 13,500 more police officers, and tackled the Covid backlogs in the NHS by opening nearly 100 Community Diagnostic Centres so people can access care closer to home.

“Today, I pledge to continue delivering on these priorities. We are on the side of hard-working British people, and we are going to get on with the job.”

Results in full

Tory MPs were asked the following question:

Do you have confidence in Boris Johnson as leader of the Conservative Party:

• Yes: 211
• No: 148
• Majority: 63

A total of 359 votes were cast - which means that every Tory MP voted - with no spoiled ballots.

Speaking after the vote, the Prime Minister told reporters in Downing Street: “I think it’s an extremely good, positive, conclusive, decisive result which enables us to move on, to unite and to focus on delivery and that is exactly what we are going to do.”

He rejected the assertion that he needed to call a snap election to secure a new mandate from the public, insisting he was focused on people’s priorities.

Allies of the PM insist his ballot victory should draw a line under the question of his leadership, but Labour is moving to apply further pressure on the PM by pushing a Commons vote on standards.

The party is urging MPs from all sides to back calls for Mr Johnson’s ethics adviser to be given the freedom to launch his own investigations into potential ministerial rule breaches.