On December 14, 100 Conservative MPs voted against Boris Johnson’s latest measures to combat Coronavirus. The rebels included all the officers of the backbench 1922 Committee, an unprecedented indication of the extent of discontent over a variety of issues within the Party. In a letter published in The Times on December 16, Alistair Lexden put the Tory revolt in historical perspective. In modern times, only Brexit has produced greater internal Tory division.
Sir, The Conservative party’s difficulties during Brexit were on an unprecedented scale, reflecting extraordinary internal turmoil. In the 20th century, the largest Tory vote in the Commons against a Conservative government occurred in 1935 when Winston Churchill led 80 Conservatives into the opposition lobby against a Bill to confer dominion status on India, a right-wing rebellion which Stanley Baldwin, with a massive majority, easily survived. On May 8, 1940, at the end of the debate on the disastrous Norway campaign, 33 Conservatives voted against Neville Chamberlain and 65 abstained. A Tory MP called out: “In the name of God, go”. He resigned two days later. Should not Boris Johnson consider his position?
Lord Lexden
Conservative Party historian
