Boris Johnson facing threat of no-confidence vote

Conservative rebels are increasingly optimistic about forcing a vote on Boris Johnson’s leadership next week.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, right, during a visit to Stockton-on-Tees, England. Picture: Getty Images.

Conservative Party rebels are increasingly optimistic about forcing a vote on Boris Johnson’s leadership next week as the British Prime Minister faces a further wave of condemnation over the Downing Street parties scandal.

Mr Johnson’s supporters had hoped that Sue Gray’s report into lockdown rulebreaking would draw a line under the saga and enable the Prime Minister to focus on the cost of living and Ukraine.

Four more MPs openly questioned his leadership on Monday (Tuesday AEST), bringing the total to 29. The Times knows of further MPs who have submitted letters of no confidence but do not want to go public. At least 13 Conservatives have criticised Mr Johnson since Ms Gray’s report without explicitly calling for him to resign.

Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, dropped a heavy hint that he had submitted a letter, saying: “I have made my position clear to those who need to hear it.”

While 29 is far short of the 54 required to force a vote of confidence, it is widely accepted both among rebels and government whips that many who submit formal letters to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, will never go public.

One rebel Conservative said they believed that a confidence vote would be triggered “by the end of next week”. MPs return from recess on Monday after the Jubilee holiday weekend.

Another rebel said: “Like-minded colleagues are coming to the same conclusion with only some gentle encouragement. Unlike ‘Operation Save Big Dog’ [the name given to efforts to defend Mr Johnson] we don’t have to rely on an intimidatory machine.”

Another anti-Johnson MP said they were optimistic about forcing a vote next week but even if this did not happen, Tory defeats at by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton on June 23 would mean “that’s it”. Even committed plotters were taken aback by the number of MPs who went public on Monday.

One Conservative MP said that the Gray report had triggered a new wave of letters from constituents furious at the culture in Downing Street during the pandemic. They added that “many of the writers are new names”.

Two junior members of the government criticised the revelations of lockdown-breaking parties.

John Lamont, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, said people who received fines for attending lockdown-breaking events deserved them and that “no one can be above the law”.

Mr Lamont is the parliamentary private secretary to Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary. He told his local paper that he was waiting for the outcome of an investigation by the privileges committee of MPs into whether Mr Johnson misled parliament. “Reading about these events that took place in Downing Street is sickening, especially for those of us who were unable to be with loved ones during lockdowns,” he told the Border Telegraph.

Duncan Baker, the MP for North Norfolk who is a PPS to Michael Gove, the Communities Secretary, criticised the “appalling behaviour” in No 10 and said that the British public deserved “much better”. He questioned the position of Simon Case, the Cabinet Secretary.

“I think it reveals failures of leadership and judgment, alongside a culture which simply must change,” Mr Baker said.

The Times