A senior Tory has claimed Boris Johnson will lead the Tories into the next election - despite two thirds of voters wanting him to quit before the next nationwide vote.
Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden said he saw a "strong case" for Mr Johnson remaining in office and claimed that changing leader would be "dearly damaging for the country".
He admitted the upcoming local elections could be "challenging" for the Tories amid reports jittery MPs are watching closely to see if Mr Johnson is a liability for the party at the ballot box.
It comes as a new Opinium poll found almost two thirds of voters (65%) think Johnson should resign as prime minister before the next general election, including over two fifths (44%) of 2019 Conservative voters.
Influential Tory backbencher Steve Baker, who called on the PM to quit this week, told the Telegraph that Partygate had been "a disaster and I fear we will reap the whirlwind on polling day."
The shameless Prime Minister has refused to resign after receiving a Partygate fine from police for attending a surprise lockdown birthday gathering in June 2020.
Police are reportedly handing out more fines over a BYOB bash the Prime Minister has admitted attending in the Downing Street garden in May 2020.
No10 has said the PM has not received a fine from Scotland Yard over this event so far.
Mr Dowden said it would be "quite a speculation to assume there will be more fines issued".
Mr Johnson is now facing three official investigations into Covid lockdown law-breaking at the heart of Government.
These include probes by the Metropolitan Police, Whitehall enforcer Sue Gray and an investigation by the Commons Privileges Committee into allegations that he misled Parliament at least four times over Partygate.
Mr Dowden said he did not believe Mr Johnson had misled the Commons when he said no rules were broken in Downing Street during the pandemic.
Asked if the PM would have to quit if the Committee finds that he lied to MPs, Mr Dowden told Sky News: "I don't believe the Prime Minister misled Parliament.
"He is perfectly open to the Privileges Committee to conduct that investigation and Parliament consented to that, so I don't believe that scenario will arise."
Mr Dowden said there was "a very strong case for the Prime Minister remaining in office".
But he accepted that the local elections on May 5 will be "challenging" for the Tories.
Asked if a YouGov poll which suggests the majority of the public believe Boris Johnson lied about Downing Street parties is a big worry ahead of the local elections, Mr Dowden said: "Of course, we're mid-term anyway. They will be a challenging set of elections."
But he added: "Yes, I do think he will lead us into the next election."
He said he and Mr Johnson "share people's frustration over what happened" but that it needs to be "balanced out" against what the Government has achieved with things such as the vaccine rollout, Brexit and supporting Ukraine, and "the Prime Minister getting those big calls right".
He said: "Talking to the Prime Minister, he's got plenty more fuel in the tank. He's got real energy and determination to continue to serve this country and deal with some of the big challenges we face."
He added: "I think the uncertainty that would be caused by a change of leader would be dearly damaging to this country."
Labour leader Keir Starmer warned that Mr Johnson's authority had been "shot through" by the saga.
He branded Downing Street "probably the most fined workplace in the whole of the United Kingdom", adding: "And we're not at the end of these fines yet."
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: "Dowden is deluded if he thinks the toxic cocktail of Boris Johnson’s illegal partying and the cost of living crisis won't affect the Conservatives at the local elections.
"Boris Johnson has angered many life-long Conservative voters around the country. Voters will not back a liar, they will definitely not back a criminal and they feel taken for granted more than ever by the Conservative Party."
It comes as new Opinium poll found Mr Johnson’s net approval rating had dropped to -33%, as almost three fifths of Brits (59%) say they disapprove of the job that he is doing.
Nearly two thirds (65%) think the PM should resign before the next general election, including over two fifths (44%) of 2019 Conservative voters.
Some 42% think he should resign now and 14% think he should resign once the situation in Ukraine has stabilised, the poll found.
Adam Drummond, head of political and social research at Opinium said the PM's approval ratings improved when the conflict in Ukraine began but this effect has started to wear off.
He said: "The prime minister’s approval rating is back in “suitcases full of wine” territory and a large minority of Conservative voters think a fresh face should lead the party into the next election.
"Johnson is helped by the lack of an obvious successor but, while Rishi Sunak's ratings have fallen significantly, No 10 should be far more worried by voters' expectations for the economy and their personal finances over the next year."
Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 2002 UK adults aged 18+ from 19 th to 22 nd April 2022. Results have been weighted to be nationally representative.
