Boris Johnson faces a backlash from Conservative MPs after allies briefed that the prime minister had won over his party, as splits appear in the One Nation group of Tory centrists about how to proceed.
On Tuesday, the veteran MP Peter Aldous said he had submitted a letter of no confidence and MP Tom Hunt criticised the “cack-handed” backers of the prime minister, though stopped short of saying he should resign. Gary Streeter, the MP for South West Devon, also declined to say he had confidence in the prime minister.
It is understood Johnson saw at least four former ministers late on Monday night after at least three others told him their support was either lost or conditional on Sue Gray’s final report on Downing Street’s lockdown breaches, now being investigated by police.
Aldous became the latest MP to say he had written a letter of no confidence in Johnson. “After a great deal of soul-searching, I have reached the conclusion that the prime minister should resign,” Aldous tweeted.
“I have never taken such action before and had hoped that I would not be put in such an invidious position. Whilst I am conscious that others will disagree with me, I believe that this is in the best interests of the country, the government and the Conservative party.”
Charles Walker, the vice chair of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, added his voice to the mix, saying he would applaud Johnson for resigning.
“I think there’s so much grief and pain out there that if he was to say [that he would resign], that would show great courage,” he told Channel 4 News. “I would applaud him for doing that but that is his decision.”
Elliot Colburn, MP for Carshalton and Wallington, also revealed to a constituent that his “patience has now snapped” with Johnson and the partygate scandal in a hint that he could be among those to have put in a letter. “If I were the PM, I’d be considering my position,” he said.
Streeter said it was not true the prime minister’s meeting with MPs had been “well received” on Monday evening. “This one is not over yet,” he told BBC Radio Devon. “It has got legs. A lot of us are thinking very seriously about what we should do about it.
“It’s a serious matter of course to express no confidence in a prime minister … I’m reflecting and certainly over the next couple days will make a decision.”
Johnson’s critics admitted there was “no plan and no coordination” among those who believed the prime minister should go. One senior MP who has been publicly critical of Johnson said they had been aghast at colleagues’ response to the prime minister’s private meeting with his MPs on Monday night.
“The Tory party’s reputation for ruthlessness is a complete lie. It’s actually never been true and we’re seeing it happening before our eyes,” the MP said.
One former minister who said they were among a number of colleagues prepared to move as a collective after the Gray report, described it as a “deeply unwelcome delay” but said they still held the view that a no-confidence vote would have a greater chance of success once the full evidence had been disclosed.
But another former cabinet minister, who has seen Johnson, said that the idea of a leadership contest was “filling people with horror” about the damage that in itself could do to the party. “We would be on to our fourth prime minister. What does that say about the party? For better or worse, we did throw our lot in with him and we won a big majority.”
But the MP said that would change if Johnson was fined by the Met. “He’s not out of the woods, no. He’d be very foolish to have a ‘mission accomplished’ banner. At the point where he has committed a criminal offence, of course that changes things. And it depends how bad is the final Gray report.”
Among those who have expressed anger and frustration are some of the more critical 2019 MPs who have privately told more experienced colleagues they feel betrayed.
Hunt has said the limited findings made in Gray’s update were not “acceptable, excusable, or defensible” but stopped short of saying it meant he had submitted a letter of no confidence.
The MP for Ipswich said some of the interventions by Johnson’s allies had been “so cack-handed that the best way they could be of assistance to the prime minister would be to disable all their social media platforms and cease carrying out media interviews”.
“Silence would be preferable,” he said.
He said it was not the time to “depose the prime minister”, but that a line could not be drawn under the saga until the full report was published.
