Boris Johnson should stay on as Prime Minister even if he wins tonight's vote of no confidence ballot with just one vote, loyalist Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.
The Prime Minister launched his fightback to stay in No10 swiftly after Sir Graham Brady confirmed tonight's vote, with plans to address Tory MPs at 4pm.
The PM has even sent letters to MPs, begging that voters will not "forgive us" for focusing on "Westminster politics".
The Brexit Opportunities minister told Sky News he was not "forced" to come out and back the PM, but insisted Mr Johnson is "forward-looking" and "exceptional".
He went on to blast royalists who booed the PM during the Platinum Jubilee weekend, as "mere bagatelle" and even claimed it was "perfectly normal" to have a "little bit of booing".
"I obviously want the Prime Minister to get as big a majority as possible, I think that would be helpful and it would close this matter down between now and the next general election, which would be good for the country, good for the Conservative Party, but one is enough," Mr Rees-Mogg said.
No10 says the PM will not be distracted from Government business by the vote of note confidence initiated by fed-up Tory MPs.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The Prime Minister is firmly of the view that he will not be distracted from the key issues facing the UK and the world. That is illustrated by the call he had with (Ukrainian President) Zelensky this morning.
“Equally there are key domestic challenges – not least the Covid backlog, the cost-of-living pressures – I think he will be taking more action on in due course.”
But senior Tories have noted even these challenges are not being tackled, amid the widespread anger expressed by the public in the wake of his handling of the Partygate scandal.
Former minister Jesse Norman said the PM's current policy priorities were "deeply questionable" and there were no circumstances in which he could serve in a government led by him.
"You are the leader of the Conservative and Unionist party, yet you are putting the Union itself gravely at risk,” he said.
Former health minister Jeremy Hunt called for the PM to go, saying: "We are not offering the integrity, competence and vision necessary to unleash the enormous potential of our country".
But ultra-loyalist Nadine Dorries attempted to launch a stinging attack on Mr Hunt, but it failed.
She criticised the former Health Secretary's handling of the pandemic, claiming: "You've even wrong about almost everything, you are wrong again now."
"Your pandemic preparation during six years as Health Secretary was found wanting and inadequate.
"Your duplicity right now in destabilising the party and country to serve your own personal ambition, more so."
In doing so, the Culture Secretary highlighted how badly the Tories had handled the pandemic, on top of lockdown-breaking parties which took place across Downing Street under the PM's watch.
The Prime Minister must resign if Tories decide he is no longer fit to lead the party, in what would be just 906 days after he won the biggest majority for the Conservatives since the 1980s.
