A Tory ‘witch-hunt’ is underway to find the 17 MPs who voted to remove Boris Johnson as Prime Minister despite showering him with praise in public.
The Sunday Mirror has spoken to a number of ministers who have been publicly supportive of the Prime Minister, but who privately indicated they had voted no confidence in his leadership on Monday.
And analysis of public statements made by Conservative MPs in the days surrounding the vote found there were more who had backed him than had voted to keep him as party leader.
The PM received 211 votes of confidence on Monday night - with 148 MPs saying he should go.
The Sunday Mirror’s analysis found 204 MPs who had either claimed they had voted for Mr Johnson or made positive statements about his leadership in the days around the vote.
And a further 24 MPs who have government jobs - either ministers, whips or Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS) - who had made no public statements, but who would be expected to resign if they did not have confidence in the PM.
It amounts to 228 people backing Boris Johnson in public - 17 more than the number who voted for him in the secret ballot.
Mr Johnson claimed a “decisive” victory in the challenge, despite more than 40% of his MPs voting to oust him.
And it’s led to feverish speculation among the PM’s allies over which of his top team had stabbed him in the back while supporting him in public.
“It’s a strange mood in Number 10 at the moment,” a Whitehall source said.
“There is relief, of course, and plans to move on and a sort of weird energy.
“But there’ll be a witch-hunt, of course. It shouldn’t be too hard to work out who did what when the reshuffle comes. They’ll get to the bottom of what happened.”
Rebels are now said to be gearing up for a second bid to oust Mr Johnson if he loses both of the looming by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton later this month.
A second coup attempt would require a change of Tory party rules, which currently protect Boris Johnson from an internal challenge for year.
Privately, some Downing Street insiders have given up on winning in Wakefield - but are “throwing everything” at Tiverton.
“Johnson thinks that Tiverton is the one,” a Whitehall source said. “They are going to throw everything at it. Privately they admit that it won’t be comfortable, but they will live with winning one and losing the other.”
Insiders say it would be “quite easy to spin” a loss in the Wakefield by-election, which was sparked by former MP Imran Ahmed-Khan’s conviction for sexual assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Meanwhile, the PM’s schedule means a joint speech on the economy by Mr Johnson and Rishi Sunak has been punted from this week until the end of the month.
On the heels of the double by-election will be the probe into whether Mr Johnson lied to Parliament by the Commons Procedure committee.
This week, Labour ’s Harriet Harman is expected to be named chair of the investigation - which could unearth damning private messages proving how much Mr Johnson knew about Downing Street parties and when.
But the probe isn't likely to report back until the Autumn.
Mr Johnson is expected to use a reshuffle in the coming weeks to punish disloyal ministers - and reward those who backed him.
On the day of the vote, all Cabinet Ministers were under strict instructions to tweet their support.
One minister, who was out on a visit and struggled to get phone reception to send their tweet, got “increasingly angry” phone calls from Number 10.
MPs were warned by text message: “In the reshuffle, only loyalty will be rewarded.”
Several sources said Downing Street had been caught off guard by the scale of the rebellion.
In the hours after the vote, one minister acknowledged 148 was a “f***ing big number”, and acknowledged Mr Johnson’s team had not been “slick” enough to see the mass revolt coming.
But the Prime Minister’s mood is said to have lifted after the vote.
“Boris is much happier,” a source said.
“Number 10 were almost glad the letters landed when they did. Post by-election it might have been a different story.
“The numbers weren’t great but at least it’s over. Just the by-elections now and then it’s a pretty clear run. The economy and cost of living is a problem obviously, but that’s not BJ’s fault.”
Mr Johnson himself reportedly kept the news that he would face a vote to himself for hours after being told by 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady early last Sunday afternoon, just before he set off for the Queen’s Jubilee pageant.
A source said the PM didn’t tell even his closest aides the threshold of 54 letters from Tory MPs had been met until after the pageant.
He gathered members of his inner circle, including media chief Guto Harri and Chief of Staff Steve Barclay, in his Downing Street flat to discuss strategy.
“The thinking was ‘Let’s go really, really, really quickly’”, a source said. “So Boris called Brady at midnight and said he was ready to go.”
On the day of the vote, Mr Johnson spent time during the morning personally addressing and signing letters to every Tory MP, pleading for their support. Some letters were signed “with best wishes”, others simply “Boris.”
Party whips and No10 aides delivered the letters in white envelopes, in person to MPs offices during the afternoon.
In the hours leading up to the vote Mr Johnson met with wavering MPs in his House of Commons office in a bid to talk them round.
Former PM Theresa May was on the list of ‘waverers’ - which prompted raised eyebrows among some in Johnson’s team.
“Wavering how?” a Whitehall source said.
“What could he possibly offer her that would change her mind?”
Mrs May prompted gasps as she arrived to cast her vote on her way to a Jubilee dinner, wearing a striking, navy blue ballgown.
The ex-PM last wore the dress in public in November 2018, just weeks before her own confidence vote.
Conservative Party sources claimed ex-Cabinet Minister Chris Grayling had told friends he was “on his way back to Cabinet” - something he denies.
"He's not," one senior Tory source quipped.
And Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely admitted he had given the PM his vote after a “discussion with senior ministers”, who promised they would “look again” at funding for the island hours before the 6pm vote.
But Mr Seely angrily denied he had backed the PM in return for a “bag of cash.”
On Tuesday, ministers approved deeply controversial plans to drill for natural gas in the rural Surrey constituency held by high profile rebel Jeremy Hunt.
Mr Hunt had urged colleagues to “vote for change” and topple Mr Johnson.
Writing on Twitter on Thursday, Mr Hunt blasted the decision as "bitterly disappointing and wrong both economically and environmentally".
A Whitehall source said “What better way to show Hunt they don’t like him than digging up his f***ing constituency?
“Realistically, the timing is just a coincidence but it’s great isn’t it? Mess with me and you’ll get a mine. Brilliant.”
A Senior Tory source suggested the idea that Mr Hunt could re-enter the Cabinet as Chancellor was “absurd”.
“Why would you want your enemy living next door to you?” they said. “He’s done.”
A Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister expects all Ministers to maintain high standards of behaviour and to act in a way that upholds the highest standards of propriety.
"All of these issues have been addressed previously and explanations have been set out publicly.”
