Five more calls for Boris Johnson to resign brings Tory total to 22

The threshold for a House of Commons vote on his leadership would be met when 54 Tory MPs submit letters of no confidence.

Boris Johnson has a laugh in the House of Commons on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Five Conservative MPs have called for Boris Johnson to quit within 24 hours, arguing that the Prime Minister lied to parliament and no longer commands public trust because of the Downing Street parties saga.

Senior civil servant Sue Gray revealed that Mr Johnson’s most senior aides were involved in the planning of parties that led to drunkenness, fighting, karaoke and vomiting.

Mr Johnson had repeatedly denied in the Commons that any parties had taken place and said he had been assured that no rules had been broken. He said on Thursday that he was unaware of the most egregious rule-breaking and argued that he attended leaving drinks in a work capacity.

Twenty-two Conservative MPs have now publicly urged Mr Johnson to resign; the threshold for a Commons vote on his leadership would be met when 54 submit letters of no confidence.

On Thursday, Stephen Hammond, MP for the ultra-marginal seat of Wimbledon and a former minister, announced that he had submitted a letter of no confidence “several months” ago.

Mr Hammond said that the conclusions of Ms Gray’s report “were damning for the Prime Minister, the civil service”.

John Baron said: “For me the most serious charge against the Prime Minister is of knowingly misleading parliament. Given the scale of rule-breaking in No. 10, I cannot accept that the Prime Minister was unaware.

“Therefore his repeated assurance in parliament that there was no rule-breaking is simply not credible.”

David Simmonds, Mr Johnson’s constituency neighbour said that “it is clear that while the government and our policies enjoy the confidence of the public, the Prime Minister does not”.

Another Conservative, Angela Richardson was less explicit but effectively said Mr Johnson should quit, telling constituents: “I am clear that, had that been a report about my leadership, I would resign”. Julian Sturdy called for a new leader, saying he could no longer “give the Prime Minister the benefit of the doubt”.

Ms Gray’s report condemned “failures of leadership” at the heart of government, for which there was “no excuse”, and said Mr Johnson must bear responsibility. But she did not investigate allegations of a party in the Downing Street flat on November 13, 2020, saying that it would not have been appropriate to do so after the Metropolitan Police started their own investigation.

The Times can disclose that Mr Johnson, his wife Carrie and five special advisers who attended the gathering were all questioned by police, but none was fined.

It has been claimed that a party was held to celebrate the departure of Dominic Cummings, the Prime Minister’s most senior adviser. It became known as the “Abba party” after reports that music blared out from the flat.

Detectives issued everyone at the event with questionnaires asking for them to give an account of what they were doing. Mr Johnson said that he was working on rebuilding his team following the departure of Mr Cummings and Lee Cain, his ­director of communications.

Steve House, the Met’s acting commissioner, said on Thursday that there was no evidence the Prime Minister breached lockdown rules more than once.

The Times