A defiant British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted Wednesday that he is getting on with his job, as he faced Parliament for the first time since 41% of his own party’s lawmakers called for him to quit. Johnson has been left teetering after surviving a no-confidence vote by Conservative Party legislators by a narrower-than-expected margin. A total of 148 of the 359 Tory lawmakers voted against him in Monday’s ballot. Johnson says he plans to move on and focus on bread-and-butter issues such as clearing national health care backlogs, tackling crime, easing a cost-of-living crisis and creating high-skilled jobs in a country that has left the European Union. “As for jobs, I’m going to get on with mine,” he told lawmakers during the weekly Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons. But Johnson’s party opponents say they have not given up on pushing him out. They fear that Johnson, his reputation tarnished by revelations of boozy government parties that breached COVID-19 regulations, will doom the party to defeat in the next national election, which is due to be held by 2024. Still, Conservative lawmakers dutifully cheered Johnson during a noisy Prime Minister’s Questions, while opponents relished the prime minister’s problems. Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said any Conservatives inclined to give Johnson another chance would be disappointed. “They want him to change — but he can’t,” Starmer said. Scottish National Party leader Ian Blackford called Johnson “a lame duck prime minister presiding over a divided party in a disunited kingdom.” Also Read: Boris Johnson says sorry after ‘partygate’ report released Blackford compared Johnson to comedy troupe Monty Python’s character the Black Knight, who has his limbs lopped off in battle, all the while proclaiming “It’s only a flesh wound!” And Labour lawmaker Angela Eagle asked: “If 148 of his own backbenchers don’t trust him, why on Earth should the country?” Johnson replied that “in a long political career so far, I have of course picked up political opponents all over the place.” But he said “absolutely nothing and no one … is going to stop us getting on and delivering for the British people.” While Conservative Party rules bar another no-confidence vote for 12 months, those rules can be changed by a handful of lawmakers who run a key Conservative committee. Johnson also faces a parliamentary ethics probe that could conclude he deliberately misled Parliament over “partygate” — which is traditionally a resigning offense. With opinion polls giving Labour a lead nationally, Johnson will face more pressure if the Conservatives lose special elections later this month for two parliamentary districts where incumbent Tory lawmakers were forced out by sex scandals. END/AP/UNB

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrambled to patch up his tattered authority on Tuesday after surviving a no-confidence vote that exposed his shrinking support in a fractured Conservative Party and raised serious doubts about how long he can stay in office. The fact that the vote was held at all highlighted concerns that the famously people-pleasing Johnson has become a liability with voters. The scale of the rebellion — 41% voted against him — would have led some prime ministers to consider resigning. “This is not over,” said Philip Dunne, a Conservative lawmaker who voted against Johnson in Monday’s no-confidence ballot. But with Johnson defiantly vowing to “get on with the job,” the endgame may not be quick. In the meantime, Johnson faces serious questions about his ability to govern at a time of increasing economic and social strain. He nevertheless vowed to focus on “what matters to the British people” — defined by him as the economy, health care and crime. “We are able now to draw a line under the issues that our opponents want to talk about” and “take the country forward,” Johnson told Cabinet colleagues. The no-confidence vote was triggered because at least 54 Tory legislators, 15% of the party’s parliamentary caucus, called for a challenge to Johnson, following outrage over revelations of government parties that broke COVID-19 lockdowns. Lawmakers voted by 211 to 148 to support him as leader — beyond the 180 he needed to stay in power. But although he described the win as “convincing,” the rebellion was larger than some of his supporters had predicted. It was a narrower margin, for instance, than his predecessor, Theresa May, secured in a 2018 no-confidence vote. She was forced to resign six months later. “It will come as a big blow,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. “The reality is that these contests have a habit of exposing quite how weak the authority of a prime minister is.” Also Read: Boris Johnson says sorry after ‘partygate’ report released The rebellion was also a sign of deep Conservative divisions, less than three years after Johnson led the party to its biggest election victory in decades — the peak of a rollercoaster political career. Most British newspapers were in little doubt that it was bad news for a leader who has always before shown an uncommon ability to shrug off scandals. The Conservative-supporting Daily Telegraph announced: “Hollow victory tears Tories apart.” The Times called Johnson “a wounded victor,” while the left-leaning Daily Mirror said bluntly: “Party’s over, Boris.” Former Conservative leader William Hague called on Johnson to step down, saying “the damage done to his premiership is severe.” “Words have been said that cannot be retracted, reports published that cannot be erased, and votes have been cast that show a greater level of rejection than any Tory leader has ever endured and survived,” Hague wrote in a Times of London article whose words were splashed across the British media. But some supporters tried to move past the vote on Tuesday. Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the party should “draw a line in the sand after this vote.” “It was clearly and decisively won,” he said. The vote followed months of brewing discontent over the prime minister’s ethics and judgment that centered on revelations of alcohol-fueled bashes held by staff in the prime minister’s office in 2020 and 2021, when pandemic restrictions prevented U.K. residents from socializing or even visiting dying relatives. In a report last month on the scandal known as “partygate,” civil service investigator Sue Gray said Johnson and senior officials must bear responsibility for “failures of leadership and judgment” that created a culture of rule-breaking in government. Johnson also was fined 50 pounds ($63) by police for attending one party, making him the first prime minister sanctioned for breaking the law while in office. The prime minister said he was “humbled” and took “full responsibility” — but went on to defend his attendance at parties as necessary for staff morale and call some of the criticism unfair. Johnson still faces a parliamentary ethics probe over “partygate,” and his government is also under intense pressure to ease the pain of skyrocketing energy and food bills, while managing the fallout from Britain’s exit from the European Union. Polls give a lead nationally to the left-of-center opposition Labour Party — headed by lawmaker Keir Starmer, a stolid, dutiful foil to the blustering Johnson. The prime minister will face more pressure if the Conservatives lose special elections later this month for two parliamentary districts, called when incumbent Tory lawmakers were forced out by sex scandals. While party rules bar another no-confidence vote for 12 months, those rules can be changed by a handful of lawmakers who run a key committee. But both allies and opponents of Johnson doubt he will step down in the meantime. Bale said Johnson would likely fight back with tax cuts and other policies designed to appeal to his party’s right-leaning base. “The problem with that is that it’s proposing, if you like, policy solutions to a personality problem,” he said. “It looks from opinion polls that the public have turned against Boris Johnson in particular, and that’s in part what’s dragging the Conservative Party down.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday afternoon held a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level between China and Britain, Xi said that the bilateral relationship in the past half century has witnessed continuous growth on the whole despite some ups and downs. The trade volume between the two countries has increased from 300 million U.S. dollars to 100 billion dollars, and the two-way investment stock has risen from almost zero to 50 billion dollars, Xi said. Read:China, Afghanistan pledge orderly, mutually beneficial cooperation Last year, bilateral trade reached a new high, and China's investment in Britain more than tripled, Xi said, adding that British-funded enterprises have actively participated in China's reform and opening up, and London has become the world's largest offshore RMB trading hub. The two countries have coordinated and cooperated in such fields as global development and climate change, and have made positive contributions to tackling humanity's common challenges, Xi said. Noting that China and Britain have different domestic conditions and development paths, Xi said the two sides should bear in mind a strategic and long-term perspective, respect each other, promote dialogue and communication based on openness and inclusiveness, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation. Xi said that China is willing to conduct dialogue and cooperation with Britain in a frank, open and inclusive manner, and hopes that the British side can view China and China-Britain relations objectively, and work with China in promoting a continuous development of bilateral ties. For his part, Johnson said that Britain-China relations are of great importance. Trade between Britain and China has been growing rapidly, and Chinese students in Britain outnumber those in any other European countries, of which, he said, Britain is very proud. Read:One 'black box' found in China Eastern plane crash Britain and China, two permanent members of the UN Security Council, share common interests on many issues and can work with each other on many things, he said. He also said that Britain is willing to have candid dialogues with China, strengthen bilateral exchanges and cooperation, expand bilateral economic and trade cooperation and deepen communication and coordination on such global issues and regional hotspots as climate change and bio-diversity.

Painter Charlotte Johnson Wahl, the mother of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has died aged 79. Wahl died “suddenly and peacefully” at a London hospital on Monday, according to a death notice in The Times of London. Boris Johnson once described his mother as the “supreme authority” in his large, close-knit family. She was a successful painter of portraits and landscapes. Read: Hasina mourns death of Boris Johnson’s mother Wahl and first husband Stanley Johnson divorced in 1979. She later married American academic Nicholas Wahl, who died in 1996. She is survived by four children — the prime minister, journalist Rachel Johnson, former politician Jo Johnson and environmentalist Leo Johnson — and 13 grandchildren.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that the UK will donate at least 100 million surplus coronavirus vaccine doses within the next year, including 5 million beginning in the coming weeks. The donation is in addition to the UK work to support Oxford-AstraZeneca’s contribution to fighting COVID and the UK's financial backing to COVAX. The UK will donate 5 million doses by the end of September, beginning in the coming weeks, primarily for use in the world’s poorest countries.  Read:Tireless advocate of migrant refugees Swing passes away The Prime Minister has also committed to donating a further 95 million doses within the next year, including 25 million more by the end of 2021.  Some 80% of the 100m doses will go to COVAX and the remainder will be shared bilaterally with countries in need. By sharing 5 million doses in the coming weeks the UK will meet an immediate demand for vaccines for the countries worst affected by coronavirus without delaying completion of our initial domestic vaccination programme. Last week the British Prime Minister asked fellow G7 leaders to help vaccinate the entire world by the end of next year. By vaccinating more people around the world not only will we help bring an end to the global coronavirus pandemic, we will reduce the risk to people in the UK.  This includes significantly reducing the threat posed by vaccine-resistant variants emerging in areas with large-scale outbreaks. The UK helped to establish COVAX last year and is its fourth-biggest donor, pledging £548 million to the scheme.  Read:FM's NY Visit: Dhaka to press for early repatriation of Rohingyas

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his fiancée Carrie Symonds married Saturday in a small private ceremony in London, U.K. newspapers reported. Johnson’s office declined to comment on reports in the Mail on Sunday and the Sun that the couple wed at the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral in front of a small group of friends and family. The Sun said senior staff in Johnson’s 10 Downing St. office were unaware of the wedding plan. Under current coronavirus restrictions in England, weddings can be attended by a maximum of 30 people. Read:Brexit trade talks with EU in ‘serious situation’: Boris Johnson Johnson, 56, and 33-year-old Symonds, an environmental campaigner, announced their engagement in February 2020 and have a son together, 1-year-old Wilfred. The marriage would be Symonds’ first and Johnson’s third. He has at least five other children from previous relationships. The last British prime minister to marry in office was Lord Liverpool in 1822. Politicians sent congratulations after the news was reported. Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster tweeted: “Huge congratulations to Boris Johnson & Carrie Symonds on your wedding today.” Read:Boris Johnson self-quarantining after contracting Covid-19 infected MP The reported nuptials come after a tumultuous political week for Johnson, who was accused by former top aide Dominic Cummings on Wednesday of bungling the government’s response to the coronavirus and being “unfit for the job.” On Friday, an ethics inquiry found the prime minister acted “unwisely” in renovating his Downing Street apartment without knowing where the money had come from, though it cleared him of misconduct.

Britain on Monday took another giant step in the fight against COVID-19, ramping up its immunization program by giving the first shots in the world from the vaccine created by Oxford University and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

Deep into a crucial weekend of negotiations, a breakthrough on fishing rights remained elusive for the European Union and Britain, leaving both without a trade agreement that would dull the edge of a chaotic, costly economic break on New Year’s Day.

Millions of people must cancel their Christmas get-togethers and most shops have to close in London and much of southern England, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday as he imposed a new, stricter level of coronavirus restrictions on the region to curb rapidly spreading infections.

With a chaotic and costly no-deal Brexit only three weeks away, gloom settled on both sides of the English Channel as European Union and United Kingdom trade negotiators sought to find a breakthrough in technical talks where their leaders failed three times in political discussions over the past week.