Hendon MP says he voted ‘the way I believe to be right’ over PM’s future

Hendon MP Matthew Offord has admitted some constituents wrote to him ahead of last night’s confidence vote in the House of Commons “to say they won’t vote for me as a Conservative candidate if I don’t vote against the Prime Minister.”

In a lengthy statement put out on his website ahead of Monday evening’s dramatic vote, Offord attempted to take a considered approach saying he would vote “in the way that I believe to be right” .

But he admitted he had “been concerned about the events surrounding social gatherings at 10 Downing Street during the Coronavirus pandemic.”

In a statement on his website regarding the ballot, which was won by the Prime Minister with a slender majority of just 63, the MP said it was clear from late last year that the “media frenzy” around the partygate revelations “could culminate in a vote of no confidence.”

But Offord added:”Some people are using this as an opportunity to remove the Prime Minister through a means that does not involve a general election and have been seeking his defenestration since he was first appointed Prime Minister.

“I do not condone the events that occurred in Downing Street – having friends who could not attend funerals during lockdown – but a sense of perspective is needed. Boris Johnson has not led the UK into an illegal war; he has not committed a criminal offence; he has not used his office for electoral advantage.”

Revealing he had been contacted by constituents urging him to vote against the PM in exchange for them continuing to vote Tory he continued:” I believe I have always demonstrated that, whatever the issue, I vote in the way that I think is appropriate.

“Sometime this has been against the Government and sometimes with them. I have never voted to curry favour with a particular viewpoint for electoral gain. There is no doubt that mistakes have been made within 10 Downing Street.

“However, on the big issues, the vaccine programme was a great success and assistance to Ukraine has been incredible. In politics as in life, you take the rough with the smooth.”

Offord then referenced the debate around the UK’s exit from Brexit saying he was ” characterised as a hard Leaver by the Labour Party and as a Remainer by UKIP – but I couldn’t have been both.”

He said:” The experience showed me that people will take what they want from my comments or actions to suit their own narratives. The same is now occurring in the ballot in the Prime Minister.

“Therefore, I shall vote in person in the confidence ballot on the Prime Minister – in the way that I believe to be right.”