It has been a nightmare week for Boris Johnson. In a few days, the British premier lost four out of four votes: he went under on anti-no deal law - which, in the event of no agreement with Brussels by the end of October, would oblige him to postpone Brexit for another three months, to 31 January 2020 - and on his motion presented by himself to request early elections on October 15th.
Still, Johnson insists: “The vote is the only way to unblock the Brexit impasse,” he said, stressing that he has no intention of asking for any further delay. Indeed, the Premier wants to present a new motion to ask for immediate elections. He will do it next Monday, the last day of work in Westminster before the long pause he imposed to arrive at Brexit even without an agreement with Europe by 31 October.
In any case, his attempt to gag Parliament was not a success. The oppositions managed to block it by presenting just the anti-no deal law, which, after a move to the House of Lords, should get on Monday the definitive go-ahead.
It will be at that point that Johnson will present the motion for early elections. The problem is that, due to the conservative frond, he no longer has a majority in Parliament: he will therefore need the support of the opposition, which however does not seem at all willing to offer him shores. Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn has already said no once and it is unlikely he will change his mind.
For Johnson the situation is desperate: in the last few days he lost the support of around twenty Conservative MPs against a no-deal Brexit, including his brother Jo.
On the other hand, the British prime minister can console himself with the support received from the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence, who reaffirmed Washington's willingness to negotiate a free trade agreement with London just after the Hard Brexit.
