Johnson clears no trust vote by rebel MPs but challenges remain: 10 points

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday survived the no-confidence vote, moved by the disgruntled lawmakers of his own Conservative party. With this, the prime minister secured his premiership, for now, marred by the party gate scandals and not doing enough for the post-Brexit economy amid the pandemic. Though Johnson, who is known for his ability to shrug off scandals, has claimed victory, critics said that the vote was just the beginning of the end of his three-year premiership. However, his supporters, including health secretary Sajid Javid, said the prime minister has secured "a fresh mandate."

Here are the key updates to know on the confidence vote:

1) Johnson won the backing of 211 out of 359 Conservative lawmakers in the secret ballot. It was more than the simple majority needed to remain in power, but still no support of 148 MPs - what has been called 'Tory rebellion' - should worry Johnson, news agency AP reported. "Tory" is said to be a member or supporter of the Conservative party.

2) Notably, his margin of victory was less than that of his predecessors Theresa May and Margaret Thatcher. Both of them had won the vote but resigned months later on grounds that their premierships were terminally damaged.

3) The no-confidence vote was triggered by Conservative MPs after at least 15 per cent of them wrote letters of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the party's backbench 1922 Committee.

4) Johnson has been under major pressure for holding multiple parties in Downing Street while the country was under Covid-19 lockdown. Johnson also was fined 50 pounds ($63) by police for attending one birthday party, making him the first prime minister sanctioned for breaking the law while in office.

5) Speaking after the vote, Johnson insisted that it was a decisive victory and his government can now "move on to focus on the stuff that really matters."

6) Johnson also said he was not interested in holding a snap national election, which some had suggested may be his next move to attempt to reassert his authority. "I'm certainly not interested in snap elections, what I'm interested in is delivering right now for the people of this country," Reuters quoted Johnson as saying.

7) In 2019, Johnson steered the party to its biggest general election win in more than three decades following May's resignation over the failure of uniting her MPs for a successful Brexit.

8) Since then, the conservative leader gained popularity by delivering Brexit and making the UK a trailblazer for vaccinations despite the chaotic start to the handling of the Covid-19 crisis.

9) For the coming months, Johnson is likely to face further pressure with the war in Ukraine, a simmering post-Brexit feud with the EU and soaring inflation all weighing on his government.

10) Criticising Johnson, lawmaker Jesse Norman, a longtime supporter, said the prime minister had “presided over a culture of casual law-breaking” and had left the government “adrift and distracted.”

(With agency inputs)