PM has my “one last benefit of the doubt”

Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams says he is giving Prime Minister Boris Johnson “one last benefit of the doubt” after backing him in this week’s controversial confidence vote.

Nearly 150 Conservative MPs said they no longer had confidence in the Prime Minister following a series of scandals, but loyalists like Mr Williams gave the PM their backing, allowing him to ‘get on with the job’.

But in an interview with BBC Wales, Mr Williams said both he, and his constituents, think that Mr Johnson “can do better”.

Monday night's vote in the prime minister saw 148 Tory MPs reject him, while 211 backed Mr Johnson.

Montgomeryshire MP and ministerial aide Craig Williams told the BBC he had spoken to people in his constituency “losing trust with us”.

“I thought long and hard about the decision to back the prime minister,” said Mr Williams, who has a junior unpaid role in the government as a parliamentary private secretary.

“I decided to and I spoke to my association chairman, members, supporters and constituents and they broke into three buckets. 

“The people that would never ever vote Conservative and want Boris to go, the people will always vote Conservative and want Boris to stay, and the bucket I was worried about, which are people that are losing trust with us, they want the prime minister to do better. 

“They, like me, think he can do better and that’s the people I need to earn the trust of and I think I’ve given him that one last benefit of the doubt.”

Mr Williams added that rather than focus on an internal crisis, he said the party should direct its attention to issues such as food security and the war in Ukraine.