Summary
Here’s a roundup of the key development from the day:
- Boris Johnson is facing continued pressure from within his own party as the fallout from Partygate rumbles on and more MPs call for him to resign as prime minister. Former Tory minister Tobias Ellwood said the Conservative party stills seemed to be “in denial”.
- Jeremy Wright, a former culture secretary and attorney general, has become the latest Tory MP to call for Boris Johnson to resign – although his statement saying this disappeared from his website, before reappearing. In the statement, the Kenilworth and Southam MP said the saga had done “real and lasting damage to the reputation not just of this government but to the institutions and authority of government more generally”.
- The Conservative MP Elliot Colburn has submitted a letter calling for a vote of no confidence in the prime minister, Boris Johnson. In an email to a constituent, Colburn reportedly said: “I am especially appalled at the revelations of the poor treatment of security and cleaning staff … so my letter remains submitted.”
- Nickie Aiken has called on Boris Johnson to submit himself to a vote of confidence to “end speculation”, Tom Larkin of Sky News is reporting. The Tory MP told constituents that “events in Downing St during the pandemic has damaged the govt and Conservative Party”.
- Downing Street has refused to deny that a social event took place in Boris Johnson’s flat during lockdown that was not considered by the Sue Gray inquiry, but officials insisted there is no need to reopen any investigations and that the matter is closed.
- A culture minister has said it is not “immediately obvious” that there should be an investigation into an alleged second event at No 10 hosted by the prime minister’s wife. Chris Philp was asked on Sky News about reports emerging at the weekend that Carrie Johnson had organised a couple of parties in the Downing Street flat. “Well, I think we have had an unbelievably comprehensive set of investigations going on now for a period of nearly six months,” he said.
- Boris Johnson is “abusing the ministerial code” by redrafting it to reduce the potential sanctions for ministers who break rules, a former member of the government’s ethical standards watchdog has said, urging Conservative MPs to challenge this. Jane Martin, who served on the committee on standards in public life for five years until December 2021, said Johnson had wrongly used a report by her committee as a spur to weaken the code.
- Half of Britons believe the wrong people will be held accountable for Partygate, a survey has found. The Ipsos poll, conducted after the release of Sue Gray’s report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street, found only 41% of people were confident the report would lead to the right people being held accountable while 50% said they were not confident.
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Yesterday, the Observer reported Martin Reynolds, Johnson’s former principal private secretary, who quit in February following outrage about Partygate, could be the next UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia but Paul Waugh of the i paper has now heard he instead might be lined up for a senior international trade post. This is perhaps due to the reaction people had to the idea of the man mentioned 24 times in the Sue Gray report representing the Queen as the ambassador in Riyadh.
- Labour has said that the take-up of the government’s flagship tutoring programme is so slow that all current secondary pupils in England will have left school by the time the Conservatives finally deliver on their education catch-up promises. At the rate of delivery for this academic year, Labour says that figure will not be reached for at least five and a half years, by which time all pupils currently in secondary school will have completed year 11 and moved on.
- Stormont parties have urged the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) to back the election of a new speaker as the assembly was recalled on Monday. The Sinn Féin vice-president, Michelle O’Neill, told MLAs that people in Northern Ireland wanted action, not protest.
Thanks so much for joining me today. I’ll be back again tomorrow.
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Updated
Tory MP Nickie Aiken urges Johnson to have confidence vote to 'end speculation'
Nickie Aiken has called on Boris Johnson to submit himself to a vote of confidence to “end speculation”, Tom Larkin of Sky News is reporting.
The Tory MP told constituents that “events in Downing St during the pandemic has damaged the govt and Conservative Party”.
London MP Nickie Aiken calls on PM to submit himself to a VONC to "end speculation". She's told constituents that "events in Downing St during the pandemic has damaged the govt and Conservative Party".
— Tom Larkin (@TomLarkinSky) May 30, 2022
Her Westminster council was a big loss to Labour in local elex
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