Boris Johnson defends Partygate boozing and jokes alcohol in No10 helped win WW2

Boris Johnson defended Partygate boozing by telling Tory MPs Britain wouldn't have won the Second World War if alcohol had been banned in No10.

The Churchill-mad Prime Minister joked to backbenchers that booze had helped fuel the war effort in Downing Street, a Tory source said.

Mr Johnson tried to win over Tory MPs at a meeting of the 1922 Committee after Sue Gray's Partygate report said he must bear responsibility for lockdown-flouting gatherings.

The PM told the Commons earlier he was "humbled" by saga, as Ms Gray laid bare the extent of the raucous partying in Downing Street and Whitehall during the pandemic.

But he was bullish in his comments behind closed doors.

Boris Johnson said he had been 'humbled' by the Sue Gray report into the Partygate saga (PA)

A Tory source said of Mr Johnson's speech to 1922: "He made the point that he wasn't a big drinker himself but had alcohol been banned in No10 in 1940, we may not have won the Second World War."

The PM was challenged by one Tory about whether booze should be banned in No10 after Ms Gray reported staff drinking so excessively that they were sick, started fights and stayed partying until 4am.

The source argued it would be wrong to ban alcohol at formal functions.

But he added: "There's recognition that part of decompressing at the end of a long day involves having a drink but not checking out at 4am absolutely legless, having been rude to a member of staff, having thrown up over a sofa."

Party sources said the PM did not want to spend another "second" on Partygate.

Boris Johnson was pictured raising a glass at a leaving do for spin chief Lee Cain (Getty Images)

A friend of Mr Johnson's suggested the PM was bullish about his chances of surviving as party leader, saying it was "ludicrous" to suggest he should resign.

The ally said: "He has a massive mandate from the last election, he overwhelmingly won leadership of the Conservative Party.

"We're halfway through an electoral term and half of it has been taken up by wrestling through a global pandemic where he got all the big calls right.

"The idea that he should just pack up at this point is ludicrous."

Speaking afterward, Johnson loyalist Jonathan Gullis said he gave the PM ten out of ten for his performance, adding no one called for the PM to go at the meeting.