Harborough MP says he is backing Prime Minister Boris Johnson despite recent scandals

Harborough MP Neil O’Brien is throwing his weight behind embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Mr O’Brien insisted that the Premier is “now here to stay” after he won a critical Tory vote of confidence in his leadership by 211 to 148 MPs on Monday night (June 6).

But with 40 per cent of his MPs voting against him, many have called for him to step down due to his behaviour in office.

But Mr O’Brien the Harborough Mail today: "The Prime Minister is now here to stay.

“He is quite rightly focusing on the really pressing issues to do with the cost of living and the Russian invasion of Ukraine - which has sent petrol and food prices soaring.

"I'm encouraged that since the vote the PM has been working on the key issues that people in Harborough most often raise with me,” said the Harborough MP following the Partygate scandal embroiling Mr Johnson.

“People will soon see a £400 discount on their energy bills and pensioners, poorer households and the disabled will be getting a big further top-up.

“These are the things we need to be working on now the vote is done.”

The Government’s Levelling up Minister said he is also stepping up efforts to boost and improve more deprived areas of the country such as the north.

“Also since the vote I have started taking through the levelling up and regeneration bill which I am really proud of.

“It helps sort out many of the problems with our broken planning system and shift the balance back towards local residents and away from developers,” said Mr O’Brien.

“So I am getting on with the things that people in Harborough want fixing.

“The PM was right to apologise deeply for all the things that had gone on with Number 10 staff.

“But the key now is to get on and tackle the big issues, helping people with their bills, cracking down on crime and cracking on with fixing the NHS backlog from the pandemic."

A spokesman for South Leicestershire MP Alberto Costa said that he is one of the four Conservative members of the Privileges Committee in Parliament which will soon be investigating Boris Johnson’s conduct.

And as a result of that they declined to comment to us on Monday’s vote.