By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com — The pound was unchanged Monday after U.K. Prime Minister survived a vote of confidence in his leadership of the Conservative Party by 211 to 148.

The price was up 0.3% to $1.2534

Johnson has secured 58% of all votes, making him safe from a challenge to his leadership for the next year. Johnson’s narrow victory shows that many in the Conservative ranks are aiming for Johnson’s departure, which would be a major blow to Johnson’s authority.

The prime minister is now in an extremely vulnerable situation. Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May survived a confidence vote in December 2018, but was soon forced out after a few months as Conservative, or ‘Tory,’ lawmakers threatened to launch a new vote.

At least 54 Tory lawmakers had submitted letters requesting that the Prime Minister initiate an Emergency No-confidence Vote.

Johnson has come under intense scrutiny after becoming the first British prime minister in history to have broken the law while in office. Earlier this year, Johnson was found guilty of breaking his own Covid-19 lockdown rules.

Johnson’s Conservative party lost political ground in recent local elections to Labour, which was the main opposition party. There are fears that the ruling Conservative government will face further setbacks in the coming local elections amid spiraling food and energy costs.