Boris Johnson is facing renewed calls to quit after more Tory MPs submitted letters of no confidence following the publication of Sue Gray’s report into the partygate scandal.
A total of 24 Conservative backbenchers are now publicly demanding his removal, but behind the scenes others have privately said he should step down.
It comes after images emerged of the prime minister apparently drinking at a lockdown-breaking Downing Street event during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Senior civil servant Ms Gray said an individual threw up and a scuffle broke out at a No 10 official’s leaving do, held during strict Covid restrictions, following “excessive alcohol consumption” by some at the event.
The prime minister issued a televised apology over the scandal in an address to the nation after the report attacked “a serious failure” to abide by the “standards expected of the entire British population.”
Here’s the full list of Tory MPs calling for the prime minister to stand down:
Sir Roger Gale, the first Tory MP to declare no confidence in the prime minister last year, described the pictures – which show the PM apparently toasting his then-communications chief Lee Cain with a plastic cup of sparkling wine in a room littered with alcohol bottles on 13 November 2020 – as “damning”.
The MP for North Thanet submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister in December, but subsequently said it was not the right time for a leadership election, given the conflict with Russia.
However the veteran Conservative MP has now told Times Radio: “It’s absolutely clear that there was a party, that he attended it, that he was raising a toast to glass one of his colleagues. And therefore, he misled us from the despatch box. And, honourably, there is one answer.”
Former Conservative minister Steve Baker last month called for Mr Johnson to quit for failing to obey his own Covid rules during the Partygate scandal.
“The prime minister now should be long gone,” the senior backbencher told the Commons. “Really, the prime minister should just know the gig’s up.’”
Mr Baker, deputy leader of the Tories’ Covid Recovery Group, said he found he could not “forgive” the PM for “not obeying the letter and spirit” of the law.
He declined to comment on the photos, but tweeted a government poster issued during lockdown depicting a seriously ill Covid patient with the words: “Look her in the eyes and tell her you never bend the rules.”
Mr Wragg revealed he had submitted a no-confidence letter during a Commons debate on whether Mr Johnson should be referred to a parliamentary committee over Partygate.
He said it was “utterly depressing to be asked to defend the indefensible”. He added: “I cannot reconcile myself to the prime minister’s continued leadership.”
Former minister Caroline Nokes has described the PM as a ‘liability’
The backbencher submitted a no-confidence letter earlier this year – saying Mr Johnson’s “actions and mistruths” were overshadowing the government’s work.
Mr Mangnall told a constituent he stood by the resignation call following the PM’s police fine, according to Sky News.
The former chief whip called for the PM to go in Commons, as he also shared a letter of no-confidence he sent to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady.
The committee needs 54 letters to hold a vote of no confidence in the leader. Mr Harper said: “Our party still has so much to offer our country, but sadly, not under Boris Johnson’s leadership.”
Former minister Tobias Ellwood has submitted a no confidence letter
David Davis said he had not changed his mind after calling for Boris Johnson to resign in January
