A FORMER Tory minister released a statement calling for Boris Johnson to resign - before swiftly deleting it from his website.
Jeremy Wright, former attorney general under both David Cameron and Theresa May, posted the comments to his official site, but the web link later redirected to "page not found".
The Kenilworth and Southam MP had told his constituents he “cannot be sure that the Prime Minister knowingly misled the House of Commons”, but added partygate had caused “real and lasting damage to the reputation not just of this government but to the institutions and authority of government more generally”.
He said: “That matters because it is sadly likely that a government will again need to ask the citizens of this country to follow rules it will be difficult to comply with and to make sacrifices which will be hard to bear, in order to serve or preserve the greater good. The collective consequences of those citizens declining to do so may again be severe.”
He concluded: “It now seems to me that the Prime Minister remaining in office will hinder those crucial objectives. I have therefore, with regret, concluded that, for the good of this and future governments, the Prime Minister should resign.”
More Tories in recent days have publicly announced that they want a confidence vote in Johnson’s leadership in response to his handling of the revelations about No 10 lockdown parties.
Under party rules Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, will be obliged to order a confidence vote if 54 Tory MPs submit a letter calling for one.
More than 20 MPs have publicly said they want a vote, although it is not clear whether all of them have written to Brady, while others may have putting in a letter without declaring it, making the exact numbers hard to know.
Meanwhile on Monday, No 10 refused to deny that a further party took place in the Downing Street flat following Boris Johnson’s birthday gathering in the Cabinet Room.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that the Prime Minister’s wife, Carrie Johnson, hosted a further event in the flat where she lives with her husband later that day on June 19 2020.
Asked about the report, a No 10 spokesperson said Gray had made clear in her terms of reference that she would look at other allegations where there was “credible” claims rules had been breached.
“I have seen the same reporting that you have but I think this is covered in the terms of reference in Sue Gray’s report where she clearly said that any other gatherings … where she received credible allegations, would be looked into.
“Downing Street staff were given clear guidance to retain any relevant information and co-operate fully with the investigation.”
UPDATE: Jeremy Wright has since put the statement back on his website. It can be read in full here.
