FORMER Conservative leader Michael Howard has called for Boris Johnson to resign.
He told the BBC's World at One the party and the UK would be "better off under new leadership" after two devastating by-election results for the Tories in Wakefield and Devon.
Lord Howard added: "Members of the Cabinet should very carefully consider their positions."
In Tiverton and Honiton the Liberal Democrats overturned a 24,000 Tory majority to win, while Labour reclaimed Wakefield.
The staggering results are leading more Conservative figures to question the leadership of Johnson after 148 Tory MPs went against him in a confidence vote earlier this month.
Johnson is technically safe for a year following that vote, but Tory MP Andrew Brigden has announced he will be standing for the executive role of the 1922 Committee in a bid to change the current rules.
He told GB News he was going to "throw his hat in the ring" when nominations open next week on a "manifesto of rule change".
He added: "Clearly if a majority of the Committee are elected on that mindset then the rules can be changed."
Howard, who led the Tories between 2003 and 2005, has not been an outspoken critic of Johnson’s in the past but did sack him as a shadow minister for lying.
The 1922 committee treasurer Geoffrey Clifton-Brown also told BBC Radio 4 that Tories "need explanations" from Johnson and said they could move against him.
That didn’t take long: 1922 committee treasurer Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (on a dodgy phone line) tells @BBCr4today Tories need explanations from Johnson and could move against him again, opening door to rewriting party rules to allow a new confidence vote. https://t.co/eMiXOO8GEj
— Tim Ross (@TimRoss_1) June 24, 2022
The Prime Minister vowed to “keep going” after his authority was dealt a series of blows, including the resignation of Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden on Friday.
Dowden quit as Conservative Party co-chairman saying he and Tory supporters were “distressed and disappointed by recent events” and telling Johnson that “someone must take responsibility”.
Speaking 4000 miles away at a Commonwealth summit in Rwanda, Johnson vowed to “listen” to voters after losing the by-elections.
With 324 Tory MPs elected in 2019 with smaller majorities than in the Tiverton and Honiton constituency, MPs including Clifton-Brown expressed their concerns that they could lose their seats at the next general election.
Clifton-Brown retained his Cotswolds seat with a majority of 20,000 at the 2019 General Election but accepted it would be a challenge to retain it next time round.
“I think, factually, if I were to run under a bus today it would be difficult to hold my seat. There’s no doubt about that,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Speaking to broadcasters, Johnson said he would take responsibility, but insisted the cost-of-living crisis was the most important issue for voters and it was “true that, in mid-term, governments post-war lose by-elections”.
“It’s absolutely true we’ve had some tough by-election results. They’ve been, I think, a reflection of a lot of things, but we’ve got to recognise voters are going through a tough time at the moment,” he said at the conference centre in Kigali.
“I think, as a government, I’ve got to listen to what people are saying – in particular to the difficulties people are facing over the cost of living, which, I think, for most people is the number one issue.
“We’ve got to recognise there is more we’ve got to do and we certainly will – we will keep going, addressing the concerns of people until we get through this patch.”
Dowden, who was due to appear on the morning media round for the Government before resigning, said in his letter to Johnson that the by-elections “are the latest in a run of very poor results for our party”.
