So’s my local Tory … 
17:51
BREAKING
Number of public Johnson supporters up to 131
The BBC’s political research unit places the number of Conservative MPs pledging publicly to support Boris Johnson in the confidence vote at 131.
Voting begins
Scottish Tory leader has completed a double U-turn
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-60289386
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has said he will vote against Boris Johnson in this evening’s confidence motion.
This is the second time Mr Ross has changed his position on the future of the PM.
He has completed a double U-turn tonight.
In January he was in the sack Boris Johnson camp.
He was one of the first and most prominent figures in the Conservative Party to say that Boris Johnson’s position had become untenable and that he should go.
He put in a letter calling for the sort of vote that’s under way.
But he withdrew that letter, changed his position and decided he would, after all, continue to back Boris Johnson when war broke out in Ukraine, arguing that stability was more important than anything during an international crisis.
Now he has flipped position again and decided that given that there is a confidence vote he is not able in good faith to support Boris Johnson.
Tory MPs start voting in no-confidence ballot on Boris Johnson
There are now more than a dozen Tory MPs in the queue to vote. Sir Peter Bottomley went in first. (The MPs are being allowed in one by one at the moment.) Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, Sir Roger Gale, a leading critic of Boris Johnson’s, Robert Halfon, chair of the education committee, and Peter Bone are among those in the crowd.
Back outside committee room 10 the queue is still about 30 deep, but it is moving a bit more quickly. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, has arrived. Penny Mordaunt is in the queue behind him. The mood is more upbeat than you might expect. MPs, wherever their loyalities lie, a bit of excitement …
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexit minister, arrives to join a queue that is diminishing. He says he will be voting for the “right side” (which no doubt is what his opponents think they are doing too).
Theresa May has arrived to vote. She looks like she has dressed for a special occasion - presumably a dinner engagement later although, given her feelings about Boris Johnson, perhaps the no-confidence ballot itself is a moment for celebration.
Boris Johnson has arrived to vote. He turned up with Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, and Andrew Griffith, his chief of staff. There did not seem to be a queue at the time and he got straight in.
2h ago
17.03
Johnson reportedly tells Tory MPs he would ‘do it again’ with regard to Partygate events
Boris Johnson’s declaration to Tory MPs (as reported by Patrick Maguire from the Times) that he would “do it again” regarding Partygate may turn out to be a major blunder. Presumably he was thinking primarily of his attendance at various leaving events, for which he was not fined and which he defended on the grounds that, as a leader, it was important for morale to thank departing staff.
Yep, that’s the BJ that we all know … 
300 Tory MPs have now voted.
15m ago
20.02
The ballot has now closed. Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 Committee, arrived a few minutes ago to join the counting. There are no more MPs outside committee room 10 and the journalists are heading off to grab something to eat.
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-60289386
A one-vote victory is enough to continue in office - PM supporters
Iain Watson, Political correspondent
Boris Johnson’s supporters say that a one-vote margin of victory will be enough for him to continue in office. However, a number of his critics say if that happens, they believe some of his ministers will tell him openly to go.
But other scenarios would make his future – and that of his party – less clear cut.
Assuming all MPs vote, if the rebels cannot get the support of 100 Conservatives then the PM’s supporters will argue that he has won decisively, and it is time to move on.
Some of his critics believe this scenario will mean that, in due course, voters rather than MPs will decide his future - and many of them fear their verdict.
If – as many rebels anticipate – around a third of the parliamentary party, 120-130 MPs, vote against the PM they believe he could be fatally wounded. Certainly it would be symbolically embarrassing for Johnson if 133 MPs vote against him.
That would mean a smaller percentage of MPs backed him than supported Theresa May in her confidence vote in 2018 – and she was gone six months later.
With the possibility of a brace of by-election defeats in a few weeks, and a difficult cross-party probe into whether he misled Parliament, they think his position would become unsustainable.
If the rebels amass the support of 150 MPs that will mean that its highly likely some government ministers have privately abandoned the PM, and his tenure in No 10 may begin to look decidedly less secure – with critics likely to be emboldened not silenced.
If 180 MPs say they have no confidence in the PM – which his backers say they are confident won’t happen – there will be a leadership contest.
I’ll say … 139.
20:49
Confidence vote result due shortly
The result of the ballot is due at 21:00 BST.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will be informed of the result shortly before it is announced.
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Boris Johnson wins a confidence vote by Tory MPs 211 to 148.
Bad news for BJ - he’s a dead man walking - he’ll probably be gone before year-end.
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Very bad news for the UK.
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I must admit to clicking the refresh button 
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I switched to “live” for the announcement, only to learn that BJ had run off to Carrie at No 10 … 
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Here’s a point that I read elsewhere:
The 148 “rebels” dramatically outnumber BJ’s working majority of 75. Should they choose to “join forces” then parliamentary life for BJ could soon become difficult.
We can only hope. This awful government must go.
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BJ talks the talk:
“I think this is a very good result for politics and for the country. I think it’s a convincing result, a decisive result. And what it means is that, as a Government we can move on and focus on the stuff that I think really matters to people. I’m grateful to colleagues. I’m grateful for the support that they’ve given me. Of course I understand that what we need to do now is come together as a Government and as a party, and that is exactly what we can now do. And what this gives us is the opportunity to put behind us all the stuff that I know the media have quite properly wanted to focus on for a very long time and to do our job.”
Empty words … convincing, decisive, move on, focus, matters, come together, opportunity, put behind us, do our job … 
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Lets see how the 2 by-elections work out. Both Tiverton & Honiton and Wakefield voted leave in the EU Referendum in 2016 and Starmer let the cat out of the bag yesterday telling voters he wants to renegotiate with the EU, basically to rejoin the single market (and customs union).
Both tipped for tory defeats, will this change now that Boris wins his vote of no confidence last night and affirms his pledge to sort out the economy, tax and Northern Ireland.
Expect announcements in the next couple of days from the prime minister.
Interestingly, there were those who, at one time said that the figure of 54 would never be reached by the “rebels”.
The gap in the vote last night was 63 - I suppose that there are those who believe that that number, too, will never be reached or breached by the “rebels” … 
They will get their chance at the next general election, not before.
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Well said Bread ! The vote has been cast and the result has been announced, so nobody can change it! You would think that there is more important news to fill the excessive news bulletins than to keep telling us what happened yesterday… wouldn’t you?
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Hi
I don’t like Boris.
The UK has some very big problems .
Cost of living, inflation etc which should take priority over everything else.
Country first, politics second.
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