UK’s Johnson defies calls to quit as ouster bid gathers pace

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defied calls to resign in a feisty performance in Parliament. But it may be too little to prevent his Conservative Party’s lawmakers trying to oust him over a string of lockdown-flouting government parties. Pressure on the prime minister grew as a Conservative lawmaker defected to the opposition Labour Party and a former member of Johnson’s Cabinet told him: “In the name of God, go!” Conservative legislators are judging whether to trigger a no-confidence vote in Johnson over the “partygate” scandal in which officials held boozy work parties when Britain was under a strict coronavirus lockdown.