Boris Johnson will lose the support of at least two cabinet ministers if he is fined for breaching his own coronavirus laws, according to a report.
Allies of the prime minister have said that he will not resign if he is handed a fixed penalty notice (FPN) for attending parties in Downing Street.
But a source close to a member of the cabinet told The Times: “If he gets an FPN he’ll have to go. How can you have a prime minister who has been found guilty of breaking the law?”
A minister and ally of another cabinet member said his position would be made “extremely difficult” if police found he had broken regulations.
It comes as the elections watchdog has made a last-gasp plea to the government to drop a planned power-grab, warning it has “no precedent” in Western democracies.
The shake-up – enabling ministers to set the Electoral Commission’s “strategy” – would see ministers able to “influence the operational functions and decision-making”, it has protested.
