Boris Johnson has appeared to threaten a snap general election as a delegation of cabinet ministers headed to Downing Street to demand his resignation on a day of rapidly unfolding political drama.
Ministers including the chief whip, Chris Heaton-Harris, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, and the Wales secretary, Simon Hart, were understood to be seeking a meeting with Johnson to insist he step down.
The newly appointed chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, is understood to back them. The home secretary, Priti Patel, was also seen entering Downing Street.
The latest developments come after Michael Gove told Johnson he should quit and a steady stream of ministers resigned from the collapsing government. The Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, is expected to deliver the same message later, and the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, is also understood to back the rebel ministers.
But in a sign that Johnson aims to fight on, to the point of causing a constitutional crisis, he strongly indicated to a committee of MPs that moves to oust him could prompt a snap general election. Asked about the idea during a two-hour appearance before the liaison committee, Johnson said it would not happen “unless everybody is so crazy as to try and …” before trailing off.
Asked by the chair, Bernard Jenkin, about what he meant, Johnson said: “I think that history teaches us that the best way to have a period of stability in government and not to have early elections is to allow people with mandates to get on.”
Pressed again, he said: “Unless people ignore that very good principle. History teaches us that the best way to avoid pointless political disturbance is to allow the government that has a mandate to get on and deliver its mandate. Unless people forget that.”
At the end of the session Jenkin repeatedly asked Johnson if he could rule out calling an election if he lost the confidence of his MPs. The prime minister repeatedly dodged the question, also refusing to say he would resign if he lost their confidence.
A move to force an election, which would most likely be disastrous for the Conservatives, would be bitterly resisted by most of Johnson’s MPs and could be rejected by the Queen. It is understood Buckingham Palace has been taking advice as to what to do in such a situation.
As cabinet ministers prepared to urge Johnson to go, backbench Tory MPs were told they would be given a vote in elections to the 1922 Committee’s executive as soon as Monday. That could allow the rules to be changed on Tuesday so that another vote of confidence in the prime minister could be held, if he has not already resigned by then.
Asked as he emerged from the 1922 Committee meeting if Johnson would still be in post on Monday, the backbencher Alec Shelbrooke said: “Have you met anyone in the building that thinks that?”
The spiralling crisis for Johnson, sparked by No 10’s repeatedly changing story about why he appointed Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip despite allegations that the MP had groped people, deepened significantly when Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak resigned from the cabinet on Tuesday evening.
In a punchy resignation speech on Wednesday, Javid urged cabinet ministers to follow him in abandoning Johnson’s administration, saying: “Enough is enough.”
The news of Gove’s intervention came shortly after five ministers resigned jointly, taking the number of government departures to at least 25 as MPs plotted a new confidence vote to try to remove the prime minister. It later went well over 30.
In an unprecedented move, the five ministers signed a joint resignation letter to Johnson, saying the government could not function given recent scandals and calling on the prime minister to step aside.
Among the signatories was Neil O’Brien, the driving force behind the government’s flagship levelling up policy, and Kemi Badenoch, a levelling up and communities minister seen as a rising Conservative star.
Tory MPs said they had heard from party whips that there were now no MPs prepared to fill the positions left vacant by those who had resigned en masse.
One former minister who has stayed loyal to Johnson told their whip that there were absolutely no terms they were prepared to accept, and said the whip had agreed with them.
Johnson nonetheless gave every sign of wanting to continue in office, appearing as scheduled before the liaison committee.
Questioned by the former minister Stephen Crabb about whether he could fill ministerial posts given the pace they were being vacated, he said: “There is a wealth of talent, Stephen. We should be confident in our ability.”
Asked by Labour’s Darren Jones if Gove had advised him to resign, Johnson did not deny it, saying only that he would not give a running commentary on political events.
Along with the resignations, a number of previously loyal backbench MPs said they could no longer back the prime minister.
The first minister to quit on Wednesday was Will Quince, the children’s minister, who had been sent out on Monday to defend the government’s position on Pincher, a stance that was reversed within hours.
Soon after Quince’s move, the schools minister, Robin Walker, a stalwart of a series of ministerial jobs under Johnson and Theresa May, said he was stepping down.
Victoria Atkins resigned as a justice minister, saying in her letter to Johnson: “I can no longer pirouette around our fractured values.”
John Glen, a longstanding Treasury minister, stepped down citing Johnson’s “poor judgment” over Pincher. Felicity Buchan, a junior aide in the business department, also stepped down, telling Johnson he had “lost the confidence of my constituents and me”.
Other ministers who stepped down were Jo Churchill, a junior environment minister, and Stuart Andrew, a housing minister. Alex Chalk, the solicitor general, quit late on Tuesday night.
A large number of parliamentary private secretaries – the lowest tier of ministerial job, which is unpaid – also resigned, as well as other government aides such as trade envoys.
Those leaving on Wednesday included Laura Trott (transport), Jonathan Gullis (Northern Ireland), Saqib Bhatti (health), Nicola Richards (transport), Virginia Crosbie (Wales), Felicity Buchan (business), Selaine Saxby (environment), Claire Coutinho (Treasury), David Johnson (education) and Mims Davies (employment) .
In a further blow to Johnson, the influential backbencher Robert Halfon announced that he could no longer support the prime minister, saying he felt the public had been misled over the resignation of Pincher after further allegations of groping, the catalyst for the escalation of the crisis.
“The parties at 10 Downing Street were bad enough, but the appointment of this individual and the untruthful statements about what was known [are] unacceptable to me,” Halfon wrote.
Among dozens of other backbenchers calling on Johnson to go, Huw Merriman, the chair of the transport committee, tweeted his letter calling for the PM to resign while both were at the liaison committee.
