PM relied on party factions to get into No 10, but amid Covid and climate crisis is finding them difficult to contain
Conservative factions are nothing new, as Theresa May learned to her cost with Brexit and Boris Johnson saw in a mass rebellion on Covid rules. But Johnson is facing significant pressure from well over 100 of his MPs to change course on a number of fronts including green policies.
Conservative backbenchers say an ever-growing number of factions – most with their own acronym, and with significant crossover when it comes to their members – hold sway within the party, a process helped by WhatsApp-based organising and a perception the prime minister’s authority has eroded.
