The attempt by Boris Johnsons opponents within the party to overthrow the prime minister has failed.  The result of the no-confidence vote is nevertheless devastating for the British head of government.  He wants to look ahead.
 
 London.  
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to end the debate on his political future after surviving the vote of no confidence in his own group.
 
 "We are now in a position to draw a line under the issues that our opponents want to deal with," said the conservative head of government on Tuesday in London at the beginning of a cabinet meeting.  He now wants to concentrate exclusively on how the country can be moved forward.
 It is questionable whether this will succeed.  While Johnson avoided being overthrown by his own party in Monday nights vote, his authority has been severely damaged.  211 Conservative MPs voted for him, 148 Tory MPs refused to trust him.  The Prime Minister, who is also the leader of the Conservative Party, has more than 40 percent of his own MPs against him.
 According to the rules of the Conservative Party, a vote of no confidence is only possible after twelve months, but the next crisis is already looming.  At the 23.  A by-election must be held in two English constituencies in June.  In both cases, Conservative MPs had to resign.  The opposition has good prospects of success.  Then the pressure on the prime minister should increase again.
 Johnson had endeavored to portray the result as a great success.  "I think this is an extremely good, positive, conclusive and clear result," said the conservative party leader in a television interview after the vote.
 
"Partygate" affair
 Johnson had come under pressure after details came to light about parties at his Downing Street office in London during the corona lockdowns, some of which were excessive.  The conservative politician tolerated the celebrations and even attended some of them.  An investigation report accused those responsible in Downing Street of leadership failure.  Johnson was fined for attending an illegal lockdown party, becoming the first UK Prime Minister to be proven to have broken the law.
Johnson portrayed the criticism as pure media hype. He was happy to now only be able to talk about his governments priorities and no longer about "all the stuff that is of obsessive and compulsive interest" to journalists, the prime minister said.
 
Even party colleagues accuse Johnson 211lack of plan before
 But it wasnt just his lax attitude toward his own rules that got Johnsons opponents in his own party on the barricades.  Tory MP and long-time Johnson companion Jesse Norman accused the prime minister of endangering the unity of the country, among other things.  He described the confrontational course with Brussels on the Northern Ireland question as "economically very harmful, politically foolish and almost certainly illegal".  He described Johnsons plan to deport refugees to Rwanda as "ugly, likely counterproductive and of dubious legality".
 Johnson, on the other hand, does not have a long-term political agenda.  "Instead, youre just trying to campaign, constantly changing the subject and creating political and cultural divides mostly for your own benefit," Norman continued.  (dpa)