LONDON (TASS): Member of the House of Commons of the British Parliament from the ruling Conservative Party Christian Wakeford switched to the opposition Labor Party faction amid a string of scandals with parties at the residence of the United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the period of severe coronavirus restrictions in May 2020.
“Dear Prime Minister, I am writing to inform you that I have decided to leave the Conservative Party and apply to join the Labor Party. I will sit as Labor MP for the constituency of South Bury (Greater Manchester – approx. TASS). ) because I have come to the conclusion that the interests of my constituents are best reflected in the program of the Labor Party, led by Cyrus Starmer,” Wakeford wrote in a letter to Johnson, excerpted from which on Wednesday led the main British media. The parliamentarian himself changed the description of his Twitter account – now he is signed as “deputy from the Labor Party.”
Wakeford’s departure from the ruling party comes in the wake of high-profile scandals surrounding parties held on Downing Street during the coronavirus lockdown. It is known that at least two of them – on May 15 and May 20, 2020 – were visited by Johnson himself.
As the prime minister himself explained, he believed that it was only a “working event”, but he apologized to everyone who was outraged by his behavior. He also initiated an internal investigation led by senior cabinet secretary Sue Gray.
According to the British media, she has been working in the civil service since the 1970s and is respected among representatives of various political movements.
Experts do not exclude that the findings of the Gray report may force Johnson to resign. Earlier, several deputies of the Conservative Party (according to some estimates, their number may exceed 20 people) sent letters about the loss of confidence in the prime minister to the parliamentary 1922 Committee, which has the right to put the corresponding issue to a vote in parliament.
To do this, the committee, which includes ordinary Conservative MPs, needs a vote of confidence in the head of government demanded by 15% of the Tories sitting in the House of Commons. Given the current alignment in the lower house of parliament, the support of 54 people is required to launch the Johnson removal procedure.
The scandal flared up even more when on January 14, British media reported that two parties at the prime minister’s residence took place on the eve of the funeral of Elizabeth II’s husband Prince Philip in April 2021. New details about the numerous parties on Downing Street pop up in the British newspapers every day.
Against this background, opposition MPs called on Johnson to resign, but the prime minister himself prefers to wait for the outcome of Gray’s investigation. For the resignation of the head of government, the opposition is forced to count on the votes of the Conservatives, who control 359 seats out of 650 in the House of Commons.