Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson has survived a no-confidence vote by his own MPs (Members of Parliament).

Neil and Sian look at the vocabulary used in the headlines about this story.

Video chapters:
0:00 – Introduction
0:30 – Story
1:20 – Headline 1: Forbes – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Survives Confidence Vote After ‘Partygate’ Scandal
2:20 – Headline 2: Huffington Post – Analysis: Boris Johnson Is Now A Dead Man Walking
3:24 – Headline 3: BBC News – Time to draw a line under Partygate, Boris Johnson tells cabinet
4:33 – Language summary

Key words and phrases

Partygate
the scandal around Covid lockdown parties in the British government

  • Partygate threatens to end Johnson’s political career.

dead man walking
describes a person whose current situation is going to end

  • After ten defeats in a row, the football manager was a dead man walking.

draw a line under
stop talking about something and move on

  • The company wanted to draw a line under the financial scandal and move on.

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