‘In the name of God, Stay’, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is looking increasingly safe in his premiership after his detractors in the Conservative, Labour, Lib Dems and SNP all fumble the ball at PMQs, although a Conservative MP Christian Wakeford deserted to the Labour Party, the only backlash is against the Bury South MP and his colossal stupidity, Boris has survived his trial by fire!

One of the things which the Conservative Party is known for is the ruthless and efficient way that its MPs get rid of a leader, if they think that person has become a liability. The most famous dispatching of a leader by the party was of course, Margaret Thatcher. What made this episode even more disastrous, was her replacement, John Major. John Major was Prime Minister for roughly 7 years, and led the party to disaster after disaster. This sorry tale of destruction, infighting and general bickering ended up with the rout of 1997. The other highlight of the 1997 election was the 'Portillo Moment'. The individual highlight of the night was named after Michael Portillo who famously lost his seat in  the Enfield Southgate constituency in the 1997 UK general election. This is when the result was announced at around 3:10 am on 2 May 1997. Since leaving politics, it could be argued that Michael Portillo has become a better person, far better than he ever was in it. He became a regular political commentator and presenter, and carved out for himself a second career, which I suspect was more enjoyable for him and the nation. 

The arrival of Tony Blair brought in the false hope for the that an new era of fairness, justice and compassion had arrived, it didn't. Blair would then go onto 'the crusades' against Muslim countries which the US wanted to de-stablise. As history showed over a million people ended up dead, displaced and destitute because Tony Blair joined George W Bush's Arabian adventures. You could ask yourself the question, if Conservative MPs hadn't betrayed and stabbed Margaret Thatcher in the back, would that have stopped the Labour win of 1997? Would every event that flowed from that point forward have happened? It would be highly doubtful that Margaret Thatcher would have joined 'the crusades'. 

Sometimes betraying the leader is necessary, sometimes it can be a good thing, an act of self preservation for country, but sometimes as borne out by unfolding history, it can be the worst thing that has ever happened to a party. At present, there is a rush to judgment by many Conservatives MPs regarding Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the House of Commons is literally working themselves up to frenzy over the possibility of toppling Johnson. The factions in the House of Commons are banding together to displace Boris Johnson for various reasons, its politics, but the real force behind the move to destroy him stems from an issue which was decided by the people in 2016. The people of the United Kingdom voted for Brexit, that led to David Cameron not wishing to honour the result and resigning. It led to Theresa May being stalled as Prime Minister and attempting to sabotage, and water down the progress of leaving, leading ultimately to her demise. She cried when leaving as Prime Minister, but she was a price the country wasn't willing to pay. 

After Theresa May stepped down in disgrace, it was only then that we saw the era of Boris Johnson emerge as an unlikely Prime Minister. There is a saying, 'stranger things happen at sea', well they also do on dry land. As Prime Ministers go, it was Boris who steered us through, and out of Brexit, it was Boris Johnson who steered the country into an increase in jobs and higher pay in the UK for working class people. And it was Boris Johnson who led us through the bumpy ride of Covid 19. Through-out all of this, Boris Johnson hasn't crossed his rubicon, there has been terrible blunders made that could be argued in health provision, on rules, on restrictions and on interpretation of rules, but that would be the same if not worse under Keir Starmer's New Labour Mk2, as Boris eased off on restrictions, New Labour called for increased, only for Boris to be proved correct. None of Boris' achievements however can it seem to invoke loyalty in some people, in fact, in what was a classically staged move before Boris' crunch PMQs, one of his MPs did an early defection to the Labour Party. This move was to add pressure to get Boris to resign, but like Margaret Thatcher, Boris has taken a leaf out of her book, 'the lady is not for turning', and neither is the gentleman it turns out. Boris Johnson has reiterated he is not for resigning. 

Personally, I don't know what was going on in the head of MP Christian Wakeford who has defected to the Labour Party. To jump into bed with Keir Starmer is beyond a misjudgement on his part. I don't care what his made up excuse is, his career in frontline politics is over completely. Although Wakeford took the Bury South seat from Labour at the 2019 general election, his constituents once they grasp the enormity of what has happened they will be quick to get rid of him. Come the 2024 Westminster election, whoever the Conservatives select for that seat, just got a massive boost, people want to know that their MP can be trusted, do you think the people of Bury South can put their faith in Christian Wakeford? 

Conservative MP Jake Berry, a former Northern Powerhouse Minister, said: 

"I think it was a terrible mistake by Christian... I think he's misjudged the mood of his constituents." 

And everyone else! 

If you're wanting a short version, you would say, he has destroyed himself by an act of sheer stupidity. You see although the Labour leadership will 'welcome' Christian Wakeford in public, it is doubtful that the Labour rank and  file, the members will come out and work for him. In the eyes of the ordinary members, he is still the enemy. If you check wikipedia, you will see that the Conservative Party has been very good to Christian Wakeford, and once the temperature dies down a bit, Wakeford will realise just how lonely the House of Commons will be. The fact he jumped, and didn't hang around for any possible contest against Boris to me shows that he probably fancies his chances keeping his seat based on historical voting patterns in Bury South. This begs the question, how long was he talking to Labour, and did they guarantee him automatic selection as a sitting MP for this stunt? 

One thing which amazes me, yes, there has been a few bumps in the road in the Johnson administration, including a slowdown of levelling up. Covid restrictions lifting and a kind of return to normality steadily unfolding, the train can be put back on track. A group of Conservatives who won their seats in the 2019 election landslide appearing to have lost faith in the Prime Minister, is rather premature. If it wasn't for Boris, the new intake of 2019 wouldn't be there in the first place. So, let's be clear, Boris gave them their chance, he did the heavy lifting, he sown the fertile ground that they stand on as MPs. Their job post election was to cement their position in their seats by serving the constituents and their local area. One thing to me which is clear is that the Labour Party has shifted, Keir Starmer has acknowledged this, but I differ with him on what that shift actually is. My view of the change in the Labour Party, both north and south of the Scottish border, is a shift back to the bad old days of New Labour. 

Over the next two years, we will see a New Labour shift back to the bad old days of non representation for the public. It will be back to the days of anti working class legislation, and back to the days of a globalist/ EU agenda to the detriment of ordinary people. If you think things are bad now, all the horrors that people fought against in Brexit would return, but also increase under Keir Starmer's New Labour Mk2 if he achieved power. New Labour would enact 'open borders' a policy which was previously destructive for the United Kingdom, done under Blair with disastrous results. There would be a 'new deal' with the EU, as bit by bit, the Labour Party started a process to hand back control to Brussels, and while they do this under the power of government, there would be no referendum. Once they had placed the United Kingdom in such a compromised position of their own making, engineered together with the EU Commission, the Labour Party would offer a series of steps, as separate policies, think of these steps as 'EU membership by stealth', to take us back into Europe. 

One thing we should remember, and was said by the Prime Minister: 

“Because of the judgments that I’ve taken and that we’ve taken in Downing Street, we now have the fastest growing economy in Europe.” 

He also added: 

“The Conservative party won Bury South for the first time in generations under a Prime Minister with an agenda of uniting and levelling up and delivering for the people of Bury South. And Mr Speaker, we will win again in Bury South at the next election.” 

Finally, the Boris effect hasn't hit Scottish Conservatives, this is plain to see by the 'remainer revenge' charge against Boris Johnson. The Scottish Conservatives MSPs came out against Boris Johnson, now that it is clear that he will continue as PM, what now for the ringleaders? Just as the MP for Bury South made a massive miscalculation, how do you assess the damage caused by the Holyrood group? How does anyone trust anyone now between Westminster and Holyrood? Professor Adam Tomkins in a bizarre input called for the party separation, north and south of the Scottish border, personally, I didn't hold much of a candle to that suggestion. The road to greater advancement in Holyrood seats lies by clever manipulation of Westminster finances coming to Scotland. This means the Conservatives can outspend the SNP in every avenue of government for the benefit of the people. Just as the SNP use Scottish government cash to bribe the electorate with freebies, bike, laptop and baby box etc, the Scottish Conservatives could construct a spending plan that could wipe out any SNP election bribe but only if people vote Conservatives. Now that the dust is settling, Boris is staying and some people wake to the new dawn and ponder what they have done, there will certainly be some interesting fireworks in the near future.