Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that he is ‘very happy’ that Boris Johnson managed to survive a vote of no confidence on Monday, describing the Prime Minister as a “true friend of Ukraine”.
While some Britons may lament their Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, having survived an assault on his leadership of the governing Conservative party, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has meanwhile expressed his delight that Johnson’s premiership has lived to see another day.
Euphemistically referred to at points as “big dog” within the Tory party, at points yesterday it looked like Johnson’s goose may have indeed been cooked as Conservative party rebels aimed to oust the PM with a vote of no confidence.
However, Johnson appears to have survived last night’s political hit job — for now, given it remains to be seen whether the challenge will have other consequences — thanks to a majority of Tory MPs voting to keep him at the helm, a fact that Volodymyr Zelensky is extremely pleased about.
“I am very happy about it,” the Ukrainian President said. “I am happy that because I think that Boris Johnson is a true friend of Ukraine. I regard him as our ally. I think that Great Britain is our great ally.”
Zelensky’s position on Boris Johnson, despite Johnson’s domestic policy failings: the UK government has repeatedly backed the Ukrainian war effort, with the Prime Minister himself even visiting the war-torn nation relatively early on in the conflict to show his support.
The Johnson administration has also not been shy about sending munitions to Ukraine, shipping billions of pounds worth of weapons and munitions to the eastern European state.
“I want to be frank with you — Boris is supporting us, Boris is very concrete in supporting Ukraine,” Zelensky said, emphasising that he was grateful MPs had decided to keep Johnson in power.
“I am glad that we have not lost a very important ally, this is great news,” he went on to say.
Sparked off by the so-called “partygate” scandal which saw the Prime Minister pilloried for breaking his own draconian lockdown rules, Johnson has been dodging scandals and attacks left and right for the last number of months to varying levels of success.
Last night’s vote represented the closest the Tory leader had gotten to being yanked from power, the PM having previously been able to alleviate plots and schemes against him with so-called “red meat” policies and allegedly “dead cat” strategies before rivals managed to drum up enough discord to call a vote against him.
Nevertheless, Johnson’s penchant for surviving political stumbles may soon be at its limit, with polling for upcoming by-elections indicating the Tories are facing into two crushing defeats, with even Johnson himself polling as likely to lose his own seat in parliament to Labour should an election be suddenly called.
“I think the issue for many of my colleagues in Parliament is whether or not he remains a vote winner,” state funded broadcaster the BBC reports one MP who voted against the Prime Minister as saying.
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