Up to 20 Conservative MPs are planning to deliver letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson tomorrow, and it has emerged.
Nine MPs have publicly revealed that they have submitted letters of no-confidence against Mr Johnson, and the BBC was told that the seventh MP, Christian Wakeford, had also written to Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee.
The BBC’s Laura Koensberg said a group of about 20 Conservative MPs, first elected in 2019, had also met to discuss sending letters to Sir Graham.
If 54 MPs send letters to Sir Graham expressing their mistrust of the Prime Minister, it will start a leadership contest.
Earlier today, the British Prime Minister denied misleading Parliament about the parties violating the closure, and confirmed that he had provided an account of events in an investigation investigating alleged violations of Corona virus rules by the government.
Senior ministers in Johnson’s Conservative government have said they believe him – but added that the prime minister would have to resign if he was proven to be a liar.
Senior civil servant Sue Gray is investigating a series of alleged rule-breaking government parties that have sparked calls for Johnson’s resignation, including a staff party in May 2020 in the garden of the prime minister’s Downing Street residence.
Dominic Cummings, a former aide to Johnson, said he was willing to swear under oath that the prime minister had been warned in advance that the party would violate coronavirus restrictions, which at the time prevented people from meeting more than one person outside their home.
Johnson told Parliament last week that he attended the event, which was described as a «bring your own booze» gathering in an invitation sent to 100 people by his chief private secretary. But he said he considered it a business gathering that fell within the rules.
Today, Johnson said: «I’m totally categorical, nobody told me, ‘This is an anti-rule event.'»
Johnson told broadcasters during a visit to staff at a London hospital: «When I went out to that park, I thought I was attending a work event. That’s the best I can remember of that event, and that’s what I remember saying to investigate.»
Gray is due to report by the end of the month on allegations that government employees held late-night soirees, boisterous parties and «wine Fridays» while Britain was subject to coronavirus restrictions in 2020 and 2021. Irony, some in the Conservative Party have pushed Governor to demand Johnson’s resignation.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak – who is often cited as a possible successor to Johnson as prime minister – said he believed Johnson’s interpretation. But he said the «ministerial law is clear» about the consequences of misleading parliament. Ministers who do so are expected to resign.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab agreed that deliberate lying to Parliament is «usually…a matter of resignation». But he dismissed Cummings’ claim that Johnson had been warned about the party as «nonsense».
Cummings, the architect of the winning 2016 referendum campaign for Britain to leave the European Union, left Downing Street in late 2020 and became a vocal critic of the prime minister he helped take office.
Johnson’s spokesman, Max Blaine, said the prime minister had backed the rules in ministerial law «when it comes to deliberately misleading the House».
Johnson’s political fate may depend on the word «knowingly». In his carefully worded apologies over the allegations, Johnson acknowledged a «miscalculation» but did not admit to breaking personal rules.
Today he lamented the Downing Street staff party held the night before Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021. A widowed Queen Elizabeth II sat alone at church mass for her 99-year-old husband to adhere to social distancing rules.
Johnson’s office apologized to Buckingham Palace for the party.
«I am deeply and bitterly sorry that this happened,» Johnson said today. «I can only renew my apologies to both Her Majesty and the state for the wrong judgments that have been made, for which I take full responsibility.»
Johnson has urged his opponents to wait for Gray’s verdict, although experts say there is a good chance he will not be acquitted or conclude he broke the law.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives are watching with concern their «party portal» revelations, with recent polls giving the opposition Labor a double-digit lead.
Under Conservative rules, a vote of no-confidence can be held for a party leader if 54 party lawmakers write letters demanding it. It is unclear how many have actually been introduced, and so far only a few Conservative MPs have publicly called on Johnson to resign.