Petition to reinstate Boris Johnson fails as less than half of signatures were from party members

A petition demanding party members be given a vote on the removal of Boris Johnson has reportedly failed after the Tories found that fewer than half of those signing it were party members.

The Guardian reports that senior Conservatives have privately voiced scepticism about the poll, which has been signed by 14,000 people, has been organised by the website Conservative Post, and backed by Tory donor Peter Cruddas and former MEP David Campbell Bannerman.

The publications reports that the party headquarters sampled a few hundred names of those signing the poll and found that the majority were not party members. But it said organisers say CCHQ is yet to receive the bulk of the names, which they say they are verifying, and that its sampling would not be representative.

It comes amid a leadership race which Johnson is very much not part of. After he resigned a few short weeks ago, Tory MPs whittled contenders down to two replacements - Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss - who are currently going head to head at hustings, to win the support of party members who will vote on 5 September.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Foreign an… | Flickrwww.flickr.com

Meanwhile, the Telegraph reports that a new poll has found that 45 per cent of Tory voters do not think Johnson should have quit, but the same proportion thought he should have, so the confusion continues.

A No 10 spokesperson told the Guardian: “The prime minister has resigned as party leader and set out his intention to stand down as PM when the new leader is in place.”

That clears that up, then.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.