Queen entitled to ask if prime minister still has the confidence of MPs

ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship details what the Queen and Boris Johnson may have discussed over the phone

The Queen has spoken to her prime minister twice in the past 24 hours as the country came close to a constitutional crisis caused by Boris Johnson’s refusal to quit.

The Monarch may not have any political power but she does still retain the right to appoint a PM.

And the key constitutional convention which guides the Queen when appointing the senior political figure in her government is to find someone who “can command the confidence of the House of Commons”.

And right now, there are many politicians asking if Boris Johnson can indeed command confidence of the House.

He still leads the biggest political party in the Commons, but after so many resignations and demands for him to quit - is there, right now, a majority of MPs who have confidence in him?

That leads to the question, is this a time for the Queen, as she is constitutionally allowed, to “exercise discretion to ensure that her government is carried on”?

Were Boris Johnson to have requested a dissolution of Parliament for a general election - as some thought he was considering yesterday - the Queen could have refused if she thought Parliament was still viable and if an alternative prime minister could have continued her Majesty’s Government.

We are no longer at that point, but big questions remain about Boris Johnson’s ability to govern - even on a temporary basis.

Yesterday, as government ministers resigned en masse, the Queen spoke to the prime minister by telephone.

It was their usual weekly audience - in far from usual circumstances.

The Queen would have sought the reassurance from Boris Johnson that government was still able to operate, despite the resignations, and at that moment, on Wednesday evening, he was still planning to remain in post.

But the Sovereign and the PM spoke again this morning.

We are told it was a “courtesy” call from Mr Johnson to inform the Queen of his intention to resign.

She would have been constitutionally entitled to ask him again if he still commands the confidence of his party in the House of Commons.

Whilst the Queen remains political neutral, she retains a right and a duty to express her views in the private conversations she has with her prime minister.

And her questions during those conversations in the last 24 hours will have been very pertinent indeed.

But whilst the Queen will strictly adhere to her constitutional duties, she will also do everything she can to avoid being dragged into the political crisis now engulfing Westminster.

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