Rebellious Conservative MPs have been ordered to retract their letters of no confidence, amid concerns that prospective successors to Boris Johnson are not yet ready to run for the job.
One MP has allegedly warned that a vote of no confidence may be triggered ‘by accident’ as early as next week, possibly as soon as Monday or Tuesday, in the latest hint that the cloak-and-dagger efforts to unseat the Prime Minister are in shambles.
All 54 letters of confidence must be sent to Sir Graham Brady by Conservative MPs in order to trigger an election confidence vote.
Despite the fact that a number of MPs have publicly called for the resignation of the Prime Minister, it is not clear how many letters have been sent to the government. This information will only be made public when a certain amount of people have voted.
Many MPs were caught off guard by the sudden pushback against the Prime Minister, according to The Guardian.
As a result of the police investigation into Covid rule-breaking in No.10 Downing Street, over 30 Tory MPs have publicly asked for the resignation of the Prime Minister.
Senior civil servant Sue Gray’s crucial partygate assessment identified ‘failures of leadership and judgment at No.10 and the Cabinet Office.’ Mr Johnson is under increasing pressure from Tory colleagues to review his future.
MPs have said they want to deliver their letters to Sir Graham on Monday, which would put them over the 54-letter mark, the newspaper reported on Thursday.
After Sunday’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations are complete, they will wait till then, according to The Guardian.
According to The Guardian, potential successors are ‘all too terrified’ since the Cabinet is ‘wrapped around [the PM’s] finger.’
The Times reported on Wednesday that rebel MPs are considering trade minister Penny Mordaunt as a potential successor to Mr Johnson.
Others are alleged to support former health secretary Jeremy Hunt and Foreign Affairs Select Committee Chairman Tom Tugendhat.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, both members of the current cabinet, are thought to be in the running if Mr Johnson is removed.
Mr Johnson and his supporters have stood firm in their defense. He argued on Wednesday that resigning as Prime Minister because of the’miserable’ partygate affair would be foolish, and he refuted claims that he is a ‘habitual liar.’
He highlighted ‘great challenges’ on the economy, the Ukraine conflict, and his’massive program that I was elected to deliver’ as reasons for staying in office and not intending to ‘abandon’ ship.
Simon Fell, the Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness who was elected in 2019, was the latest to express concerns, criticizing the ‘corrosive atmosphere and a failure of leadership’ that allowed the instances to occur.
Mr Johnson’s own ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, has criticized his handling of the partygate scandal, claiming that Mr Johnson’s fixed penalty notice (FPN) may have violated the ministerial code.
Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on the ministerial code, said the FPN had raised a ‘legitimate question’ about whether it had broken the ‘overarching obligation under the ministerial code of compliance with the law.’
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab led the counter-offensive, stating that doubts about whether Mr Johnson infringed ministerial regulations ‘have been resolved,’ while backing the PM’s claim that he did not intend to break Covid restrictions.
As the threat of a leadership challenge loomed, the Justice Secretary stated that he does not expect the Prime Minister will face a confidence vote next week.
Mr Johnson was initially told he was a ‘habitual liar’ in an interview with Mumsnet published on Wednesday.
‘First and foremost, I disagree with the result of the question asked or the premise of the question,’ said the Prime Minister.
When asked why a teacher would lose their job if they broke the law, Mr Johnson responded, “If people look at the event in question it felt to me like a work event, I was there for a very short period of time in the Cabinet Office at my desk and, you know, I was very, very surprised and taken aback to get an FPN but of course I paid it.”