Boris Johnson begged Tory MPs for their support tonight and told them "I nearly died" of Covid so he takes the allegations of rule-breaching seriously.
Mr Johnson spoke to Conservative MPs at the 1922 Committee meeting, and arrived with Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Deputy PM Dominic Raab by his side.
Usually the PM gets huge cheers as he enters, but today after he faced dozens of questions in the wake of Sue Gray's partial report, he received muted cheers.
Ms Gray could only publish a short report - 9 pages long - which did not contain much detail because of the Met Police investigation.
But the Whitehall enforcer did find "failures of leadership" at a time when most of the population were following Covid rules to the letter.
Despite this, after the 1922 meeting Leader of the Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg said the “mood was positive” among Conservatives.
He said: “We’ve got to remember how well the Prime Minister has done in the general run of being Prime Minister.”
Tory MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow acknowledged it had been a “difficult day” but said there was support for the PM.
He said he left “absolutely pumped” and added that nobody in the meeting had called for Mr Johnson to go.
Another Tory MP said MPs were “nodding and smiling” as the PM addressed his party.
Mr Johnson is believed to have apologised to them during the meeting, and he was told MPs would “judge you by your delivery” on promised changes.
The PM apologised in the Commons and insisted “I get it and I will fix it” as he faced fresh calls to resign after Sue Gray’s limited inquiry criticised “failures of leadership and judgment”.
But he faced fury from his own party.
Former Cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell told Mr Johnson he “no longer enjoys my support”.
Ex-prime minister Theresa May said Mr Johnson either did not “read the rules”, understand them, or “didn’t think the rules applied to No 10”.
Tory MP Angela Richardson announced she had quit as a ministerial aide to Michael Gove, sharing her “deep disappointment” at the handling of the partygate row.
And Tory MP Aaron Bell, part of the 2019 intake of Red Wall MPs, recalled abiding by coronavirus restrictions for his grandmother’s May 2020 funeral before asking: “Does the Prime Minister think I’m a fool?”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the British public wanted Mr Johnson to resign but the Prime Minister “is a man without shame”.
Mr Starmer added “there can be no doubt the Prime Minister himself is now subject to criminal investigation” but “he gleefully treats what should be a mark of shame as a welcome shield”.
Senior Conservatives joined Mr Starmer in calling for a full Gray inquiry to be published.
Mr Johnson repeatedly refused to confirm that would happen but after he left the Commons Chamber officials in No 10 said an updated report would be published once the police investigation is over.
The PM also refused to tell the Commons whether he was at a party in his No 11 flat on November 13 2020, one of the events being investigated – the night former aides Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain left their roles.
