Boris Johnson’s Partygate woes continued today, when he fell to last position in the widely monitored Cabinet standings.
In the latest ConservativeHome grassroots poll, the PM is the only member of his team in negative territory, with a net score of minus 15 after losing significant ground over the past month.
Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is still in first place with an overall favorable score of 85, while Rishi Sunak has regained some ground after a spectacular drop.
Despite the fact that the poll is not scientific, ministers and MPs are keeping watch of it, and it will do little to calm No10’s nerves.
Mr Johnson is still facing rumbling unrest among Tory MPs, despite the Sue Gray report stopping short of criticising his personal behaviour and ministers offering staunch support.
A trickle of MP have broken cover to call for the premier to quit, although it is not clear how close the insurrection is to reaching the 54 no-confidence letters needed to trigger a full vote.
Former minister Tobias Ellwood, a regular critic of Mr Johnson, complained this morning that his colleagues are ‘in denial’.
He told Sky News: ‘The party is increasingly in a difficult place. This is going to be a testing summer, polling is now saying we could lose 90 seats.
‘And we still seem to be in denial. It’s time to shake off this partisan Stockholm Syndrome, I believe.
‘Our party brand is suffering. We will lose the next election on current trajectory as reflected in recent elections by local elections.’
He added: ‘And when you get the church elders in the party, such as Lord Hague, now expressing huge concern, you know, we need to listen.’
Despite the sniping, ministers have moved to shore up Mr Johnson, dismissing calls for yet another investigation of lockdown-breaching in Whitehall.
In a round of interviews this morning, culture minister Chris Philp said Partygate was the ‘most thoroughly investigated set of incidents in recent times’.
Asked on Sky News about claims Carrie Johnson organised previously unacknowledged parties in the Downing Street flat, Mr Philp said: ‘Well, I think we have had an unbelievably comprehensive set of investigations going on now for a period of nearly six months. We have had obviously the Sue Gray investigation published last week. And she interviewed, goodness knows, dozens or possibly even hundreds of people in the course of her investigation, looked at emails, messages, and everything else.
‘And we have had the Metropolitan Police investigation, which again, has gone over and gone on over a number of months. And they conducted that with full police powers.
‘So, having had two separate investigations, including by the police over many months, it is not immediately obvious to me that we need any more investigations when this has probably been the most… rightly been, the most thoroughly investigated set of incidents in recent times.’
The cross-party Privileges Committee is still due to probe whether Mr Johnson deliberately misled the Commons over Whitehall parties, a process which could take months.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis warned yesterday that a leadership battle is not ‘in anybody’s interests’, insisting the PM can still turn around the polls before the general election.
He also denied anyone tried to influence Sue Gray’s report – and said she would have ignored such efforts anyway.
Meanwhile, Michael Gove – who blocked Mr Johnson from becoming PM in 2016 – said he should ‘fight and win’ the next election despite a trickle of Tory MPs withdrawing support.
Mr Gove argued that ‘no one in Government has his energy, his determination, his vision’ as he urged rebels to quieten down.
The interventions came as No10 denied pushing top civil servant Ms Gray to remove details about partying from her verdict last week.
The report painted a damning picture of drunken staff doing karaoke, fighting and vomiting in offices while the rest of the country was under a brutal lockdown.
However, it also avoided personal condemnation of the PM’s behaviour – after police decided he only deserved a single fine for a low-key birthday celebration in the Cabinet Room in June 2020.