8,000 Tory Party Members sign Petition to Include Boris in Final Vote

The argument is that the manner of Johnsons demise was undemocratic and brought about by interested parties and the media , the petition was started 6 days ago and has already attracted the signatures of over 8,000 Conservative party members , it's only open to members of the party who are those who will vote in a few weeks for the next leader.

8.000 is a relatively small number compared to the around 180,000 registered members but with a few weeks to go until the final vote that number is sure to grow as the dirt is thrown leading up to the vote.

I didn't vote for Johnson in the last election (I didn't vote) but have to say I have sympathy with their cause , Johnson's removal was in effect of soft coup with the main player now standing for the leadership of the party , yes Boris brought it upon himself to some extent but the situation was hyped by the press beyond what it actually was , the Woke brigade had a field day.

Here is the header for the petition.

Dear Conservative Party Chairman,

Back in 2019 Boris Johnson was elected by the membership to be our new leader. Now that choice has been changed without referral to the people that elected him, the loyal and hard working membership of the Conservative Party.

I accept that there are current rules in place that we will have a choice between the final two candidates but that is not the point because our first choice has been removed without our involvement.

You cannot disenfranchise the membership from the whole process from the beginning as this is open to abuse by the Parliamentary Party who may have vested interest reasons and grievances to settle against our leader, which has been the case with the current process.

The membership are very upset about what has happened to our elected leader and we demand our say.

Otherwise, without the support of the membership then the chances of winning the next general election will be much harder.

Let me tell you that morale amongst the membership is low and there is anger towards the Parliamentary Party.

I demand Boris Johnson is added to the ballot as an option for the members to vote upon in the forthcoming election.
conservativepost.co.uk...

The petition is only open to Tory party members and I doubt there are many of those here so I'm not promoting it , just showing the dissatisfaction with recent events and wondering if anyone else feels uneasy with how this has played out.

I don't like the way this has played out one bit.
I shouldn't have an opinion as I don't vote, but things like this are the reason I don't.
Rainbows
Jane

The only people that voted for Johnson at the last election were his constituents. Everyone else voted for their MP in an election. We don’t have a president, each party has a manifesto, a pamphlet of lies that they sell to the gullible. Any member of the party can take over and if they stray from their promises the electorate can vote in the next election to reflect that.

If you’re voting for personalities then you are part of the problem. Ultimately they are all liars (politicians) and only serve themselves. Johnson just isn’t a sly liar, he’s a bumbling fool that lies. The public have some affection for that but we didn’t vote for a prime minister.

a reply to: Tortuga

People need to start understanding that we don't vote for a Prime Minister in the same way other countries vote for a President.
We vote for a candidate who is representing a political party.
The Leader of the party with most elected MP's is asked to form a government - if that Leader changes during a full term of government then the Prime Minister changes.
That's the system we have used for quite some time now.....if people don't like it they should work for reform and change.

I passionately believe that our party political system is no long fit-for-purpose and we need radical reform.
But I don't support replacing it with the systems used in many other countries.....replacing a system that has given us Blair, Cameron and Johnson in recent times with one that could give us a Macron, Biden, Merkel or Trump wouldn't be progress in my opinion.

Despite him making me laugh sometimes I have no time for Johnson or the majority of his policies.
As for the manner of his removal; you live by the sword and all that.
He's been complicit in many political maneuverings and plots.....such is politics.

His pathological lying made it inevitable that he was eventually going to be replaced.
If he'd held his hands up straight away and admitted his guilt or knowledge of things he'd still be PM now.
But his arrogance and belief that he is above the laws, rules and standards that apply to everyone else was beginning to alienate him and his party from huge swathes of voters in the 'Red Wall' constituencies.

The problem we now have is that despite Boris's failings the people set to replace him are even more unfit-for-office than he is!
The prospect of Liz Truss being Prime Minister just defies all reasoning and logic.

Which is why - and I honestly can't believe I'm actually going to write this - I sort of hope that this petition is successful and Boris keeps his job.....which will have the added bonus of making it clear to everyone just what a joke of a system we have.

a reply to: gortex

Just curious when it became "woke" to be annoyed that your prime minister turned a blind eye to his chief whip being a sex offender?

The number of Conservative Party members who have signed the petition has passed 10,000.
www.gbnews.uk...

Boris is reported to have told a friend he doesn't want to resign and if members back him he will stay.

At times like this it's probably better the devil you know than the wannabe devils' waiting in the wings.

a reply to: gortex

Eight thousand is too small a number to have any effect, even if it doubles, it's still not enough.

However, the voting members could use a different strategy... literally what many of you have posted, "none of the above", or in this case, to boycott the vote or spoil their ballot paper.

My thinking is that if a quorum isn't reached, then the whole procedure would be voided. The problem is that I'm not sure they have a quorum percentage established in law. In any democracy it should be 50% +1 of the electorate, but who knows? I searched, but couldn't find any information about this, not even in the Conservative Party Member's Constitution. It would be unprecedented.

What would happen in this scenario is anyone's guess. Perhaps, they start the whole procedure again (less Sunak and Truss), or the Queen gets involved and chooses the next PM. Maybe, Boris would remain as PM, but I'm sure he would be forced to call for a snap General Election... not what the Tories want right now.

a reply to: Encia22

Eight thousand is too small a number to have any effect, even if it doubles, it's still not enough

I know , I said as much in the OP but snowballs can cause avalanches , I'm not a Conservative but even I have concerns about how this has played out.

If the numbers do become significant the Parliamentary party will have no choice but to amend the process else risk the scenario you describe.

a reply to: gortex

Yes, it takes very little time for major changes to happen. The problem here is timing. Many of the voters will receive their envelopes this week. They can vote online or post the paper ballot. Many will probably be getting ready for their holidays and, having already decided which way they will vote, won't wait until September. They will vote early and piss off somewhere. It doesn't give much hope for lobbying the voters with a petition... it may already be too late.

Don't know if anyone else is listening to this but already they are both getting on my tit ends.

Rishi's interrupting is annoying me....but Liz Truss is full of the proverbial.

a reply to: Freeborn

I would watch it but I've opened a tin of paint and need to watch it dry.
😀

a reply to: gortex

I thought I'd give it a watch....I've only read bits and pieces during this 'election' and more or less relied on my previous impression and knowledge of them both and their respective policies.

From a personal point of view I disagree with a lot, no most, of their policies.

We've both been right for some time now:
NONE OF THE ABOVE

If I absolutely in a life or death situation had to pick one or the other then I'm afraid I'd have to go for Rishi Sunak, but it would simply be a case of the least worse option...there's only a fanny hair in it!

Nigel Farage gives his opinion on the leadership debates so far.


I'm going to claim political asylum in Australia if Truss wins.

All aboard the Truss buss , following Ben wallace saying yesterday he was backing Truss now former leadership contender Tom Tugendhat has booked his seat on the Truss buss.
www.bbc.co.uk...

As a strong favorite with the party membership it's starting to look like Liz Truss will be our next PM.


How !

a reply to: gortex

It beggars belief.
I genuinely don't have the words to sum up just how unsuitable and unfit for high office this woman is.

I think the only option left for me is to switch off and just not concern myself anymore with political matters - just bury my head in the sand like so many others and wallow in delightful ignorance.

a reply to: gortex

Het attempts to portray herself as somehow coming from 'the wrong side of the tracks' were pathetic.
Her roots are very much privileged middle-class but in an attempt to appeal to the more 'ordinary' voters she tried to pass herself off as having a working class upbringing.

As much as I despise the class system that is still so prevalent in this country - if anything the class system and the glass ceiling that protects it has been strengthened and reinforced over the last 25 years or so - I have long since passed judging people on their background. People are people.
I would no more expect anyone to deny and paper over their middle-class upbringing than I would ever gloss over my own working class roots and ties.

Why would that appeal to Tory membership the vast majority of whom were raised in very similar circumstances to Truss herself?

a reply to: gortex
Hmmm... thinking outside my own box for one minute....
Liz Truss is not a member of WEF. Boris has rejected them and Tom Tugendhat is also not a member.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is not political party v political party this is a Us v WEF.
If the country doesn't like Liz, they will vote for Starmer (as things stand) who is also a WEF member.
Of course they would love Sunak to get it, but long term they have their bases covered as it were.
Worth noting from your previous post including Nigel, he's not a member of WEF either.
I don't vote as you know, but if indeed Truss gets it, I will be keeping a very beady eye on her to see if/when she 'turns', if at all.
In summary, if you're not WEF you have my support.
Rainboows
Jane

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: gortex

Why would that appeal to Tory membership the vast majority of whom were raised in very similar circumstances to Truss herself?

As Jane hinted, I think they are not necessarily looking to whom appeals to them personally, but projecting towards a General Election, where the "commoners" will be the vast majority of the electorate. Liz is more of a threat to Labour than Rishi, who is just too posh.

Here is a good summary of her life and political C.V.
www.theguardian.com...

and a few choice excerpts:

Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser, told the online magazine UnHerd in May that Truss was “as close to properly crackers as anybody I have met in parliament” and would be an “even worse” prime minister than Johnson.

Truss read PPE at Merton College, Oxford, and became a leading member of the Liberal Democrats. At the party conference at the age of 19, she called for the abolition of the monarchy. “We do not believe people are born to rule,” she said.

The Queen will be so pleased...

Liz Truss now has the backing of former leadership contender Penny Mordaunt.

Ms Mordaunt announced her backing for the foreign secretary as she introduced her at the latest Conservative leadership hustings in Exeter, declaring Ms Truss would "clobber our opponents".
news.sky.com...

It's starting to look inevitable.

a reply to: gortex
Something is starting to smell very fishy.... not that it wasn't from the set to.... but something isn't right.
Did I hear something on Sky news today about some revelation about Sunak? I was only half listening as I was marking homeworks lol!
Rainbows
Jane