More than a thousand people - many lifelong Conservative voters - have posted letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson to the party chief who could trigger his downfall.
Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee of Tory backbenchers, is in charge of counting letters of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership from Conservative MPs.
But he may not have been expecting a raft of handwritten letters landing on his doorstep from members of the public.
The letters - which started arriving at Brady’s Parliamentary office this week - express outrage and disappointment at the partygate revelations.
Many call on the Prime Minister to resign.
A significant number of the letters come from lifelong Conservative voters who say they can simply no longer vote for the party while Boris Johnson remains as leader and Prime Minister.
One letter, signed by John from Stirling, read: “I have voted Tory for over 50 years. No longer."
He added: “I am disgusted with them and as leader of the party and our Prime Minister Boris Johnson must accept full responsibility - after all it's his house - and resign."
Another, from Gillian - a lifelong Tory voter from Inverness - read: “Like so many, during this time I wasn’t able to see or hug my mother… I lost two years of being able to see and speak to her, and now on September 12th 2021 she died…
She added: “I have always voted Conservative, as did my parents, but I can assure you that the Conservatives, nor any other party, will get my vote in future. I’m finished, done with you all.”
And a third, from Douglas from Orpington, reads: “On the night of Johnsons ‘Work Meeting’ my 12 year old Grandson was in A&E suffering the effects of long Covid. My Daughter was with him, but his father had to sit outside in his car for four and a half hours, due to Government rules.
“My story is slight compared to the suffering of others and it is with respect to their grief that I ask you to bring this tawdry chapter in the party’s history to an end”
Sir Graham's bulging mailbag includes letters furious letters from distinguished public servants, including William, an Emeritus staff member of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge.
It includes an anonymous letter from a former Ministry of Defence civil servant - as well as a number of GPs and NHS nurses.
Ellie Gellard, Campaigns Director at 38 Degrees, said: “Here - in handwritten letters from people right across the country - you can see the extent of the heartbreak and anger so many are feeling."
She added: “How those in power are held to account for this rule breaking is, formally, a matter for Conservative MPs and the Committee which Sir Graham Brady oversees. But members of the public, including those who were kept from relatives as they passed away, deserve to have their voices heard too.
“While he may be waiting on only fifty four, thousands of letters have now been posted to the 1922 Committee chairman - including hundreds from Conservative voters and members who are warning of the political cost of being seen to let the most powerful people in this country off scot free.”
