LONDON — British Prime Minsiter Boris Johnson won a confidence vote by Conservative MPs 211 to 148. It means he will stay in his job as prime minister.

The result was announced by chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady.

Sir Graham said: "I can announce that the parliamentary party does have confidence in the prime minister."

Johnson received 58.8% of support from the Conservative Party, with 41.2% being against the current leadership. Every single Conservative MP voted.

This result is lower than the 63% received by Theresa May during her leadership challenge in 2018.

Having survived Monday's vote, Johnson can now continue as Conservative Party leader and therefore prime minister.

Under current rules, Tory MPs will not be allowed to hold another confidence vote for a year.

However, there has been speculation that some could try to change the rules, to hold another vote sooner. When asked about it, Sir Graham Brady — who oversees the process — said "technically, it's possible".

Despite having won the vote, Johnson still faces challenges. On June 23, by-elections to pick new MPs in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton will be held.

Both seats were previously held by the Conservatives and if they were to be lost to opposition parties, Johnson could find himself under renewed pressure.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer responded to the Monday night's result, saying a "divided" Conservative party is "propping up" Boris Johnson after the prime minister survived the confidence vote.

"The choice is clearer than ever before: Divided Tories propping up Boris Johnson with no plan to tackle the issues you are facing," Starmer tweeted.

"Or a united Labour Party with a plan to fix the cost-of-living crisis and restore trust in politics. Labour will get Britain back on track."

Meanwhile, former Conservative Cabinet minister David Gauke had told the BBC as the voting closed, that if more than 100 vote against him it’s bad news for Boris Johnson, adding “I think it will be a little more than 100”.

“If it gets to 133, comparing it with [former prime minister] Theresa May, then that’s a very uncomfortable result for him," he added.

May won a vote of confidence in her leadership in December 2018, only to be ousted around six months later.

The voting in a secret ballot followed rows over lockdown parties, splits over economic policy, and divisions over Johnson's leadership style

A senior Tory source told the PA Media agency the PM took five questions at the meeting with MPs, two of which were "hostile" — while the other three were not.

The source said Sir Charles Walker, the MP for Broxbourne, told the PM "at times you've driven me absolutely wild", which drew "a big laugh".

Sir Charles was said to have added that he accepted Johnson's apology — and warned colleagues, "defenestrating a PM is a brutal, bloody, shocking, horrible, terrible thing".

But former Conservative chief whip Mark Harper said if Johnson stayed he would be asking MPs to "defend the indefensible".

The Sue Gray report on lockdown gatherings held in and around Downing Street may have provided the catalyst for Monday's vote — but grievances with the PM stretch back much further.

When members of the public were asked how Boris Johnson was doing as prime minister just over a month ago, 68% of those questioned told polling firm YouGov they believed he was doing badly. Only 26% said he was doing well.

The PM's net favorability rating — the difference between those people who think he's doing a good job and those who think he's performing badly — has been in negative territory for some time.

It currently stands at -45 points, according to figures compiled by YouGov, having dipped as far as -52 at the start of the year. — BBC