There are reports that the head of the Conservative Party's 1922 committee will announce a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson today (Monday, June 6). Graham Brady is expected to make the announcement about Mr Johnson, according to ITV.
Sir Graham will make a short statement to the cameras and a secret ballot of Tory MPs would then follow within days, if the format follows prior such cases. Tory rebels believe 54 letters - the number needed to trigger a vote of no confidence - has already been reached and will be announced on Monday morning, The Mirror reports.
It comes shortly after the Partygate scandal and the Sue Gray report being published, with many calling on the PM to resign - he was only issued with one fixed penalty notice following illegal gatherings in Downing Street. Mr Johnson said he was "humbled" by the findings but tried to shift blame onto staff by claiming he wasn't aware of how raucous some events became.
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It initially appeared that Tories were buying his defence but a string of MPs have now broken cover to call for the PM to resign. Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said that Boris Johnson will “stand and fight his corner” if he faces a confidence vote by Tory MPs.
Mr Javid said there “may well” be a vote amid mounting speculation at Westminster that the number of letters sent to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, has now reached the 54 needed to trigger a vote.
“This country doesn’t need a vote of confidence in the Prime Minister. What we need to be doing as a country is looking ahead to the challenges that exist,” Mr Javid told Sky News.
“If this threshold of 54 letters is reached there will be a confidence vote and in that case there should be. There may well be one. If there is, the Prime Minister will stand and fight his corner with a very, very strong case. So let’s just wait and see what happens.”
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