Backbench chief Graham Brady confirmed this morning that at least 54 MPs have asked for a full ballot, and one will be held between 6pm and 8pm
While other ministers spend this morning tweeting their support of the Prime Minister, she pointedly tweeted ... about attending a D-Day ceremony in Portsmouth, where she is an MP.
Boris's speech to Tory MPs at the 1922 committee in full
Graham many thanks for convening this meeting and I have to tell you I am glad that this vote is finally taking place.
Because tonight we have a chance to end the media-driven focus on the leadership of the conservative party, and if you will give me your support tonight we have the chance to stop talking about ourselves and start talking exclusively about what we are doing for the people of this country.
And instead of getting into some hellish groundhog day debate about the merit of belonging to the single market, relitigating questions that we settled two and a half years ago, we can get on.
We can deliver and we can unite, and you all know what an incredible force we can be when we are united.
The people in this room won the biggest electoral victory for the Conservatives for 40 years under my leadership.
And if you don't believe that we can come back from our current position, and win again then you haven't looked at my own record or the record of this party.
Because I tell you what builds trust in a government. It's delivery.
It's doing the difficult things you promise to do, and when you ask yourself what kind of government this is – and what it has to offer in the coming years – look at the energy and drive we brought to ending the Brexit crisis.
And whatever else they may say about me, do you really think that anyone else would have done it.
And look at the vaccine roll-out, the doors we kicked in to get that done at the speed we needed.
And look at the decision to be the first European country to arm the Ukrainians. Not something our system initially found easy to accept.
And I am proud of the leadership the UK has shown, and when I talked to Volodymyr Zelenskyy this morning it was absolutely clear that a strong UK position is needed more than ever, because of course the pressures are growing on Ukraine to accept a bad peace deal.
And of course I understand the anxieties of people who have triggered this vote, but I humbly submit to you that this is not the moment for a leisurely and entirely unforced domestic political drama and months and months of vacillation from the UK.
This is the moment for us to lift our gaze from our navel, and remember that the impact of Putin's aggression is being felt not just in Ukraine but by our voters.
And again I believe we can be proud of the help the government is giving. £1200 for the 8m most vulnerable homes in the country.
And remember that the only reason we can afford this help is because we took the tough decisions during the covid crisis to move forward.
That's why we had the fastest growth in the G7 last year. And that's why unemployment is now at the lowest level since 1974.
But we all know that you can't spend your way out of inflation, and you can't tax your way to growth.
Under the programmes that we have already begun we are laying the foundations for long term increases in productivity, with infrastructure, skills and technology, we are levelling up across the country
And so now is precisely the moment to recognise that sometimes government can't do everything.
And that it is time to end the learned helplessness of Covid, and to drive a Conservative programme of reform and change and cutting costs.
We need to cut the costs of government. We need to cut the costs of business. And we need to cut the costs of families up and down the country.
Look at central government – it is crazy that we have 91,000 more in Whitehall – a 23 per cent increase – than there were in 2015.
We have the best civil service in the world, but we can do things better and more cheaply. Let's take family budgets.
Why should the cost of transport be inflated by outdated practices that have nothing to do with safety.
Why should the cost of childcare be pushed up by unnecessary rules on child-minding.
Why should the cost of energy be pushed by everything from the life cycles of the crustacea that may form on the legs of offshore windmills to the system that enables all electricity producers to charge the top marginal rate.
And then look at housing where price inflation has pushed the dream of ownership beyond so many young people.
Later this week – if I am here later this week and I very much hope that I will be – Michael gove and I will be setting out plans to kindle that dream of home ownership in the hearts of millions who currently believe it is beyond their means.
And then there is one chunk of household income that is the biggest of all.
And that is tax. Everyone understands the fiscal impact of covid, the cost of clearing the backlogs.
But the way out now is to drive supply side reform on Conservative principles and to cut taxes, and to drive investment in the UK taking advantage of brexit freedoms to cut everything from solvency 2 to mifid 2.
Because that is the way to drive growth and jobs, and my friends there is simply no way Labour can match this programme
They are still in the pocket of the union barons. They want to keep us locked into EU regulations.
And though they may live in great stuccoed townhouses in north London they deplore the dream of home ownership for everyone but themselves.
They would never have taken the decisions this government took to help the Ukrainians.
They would never have stood up to Putin, not when 8 of their front bench voted to scrap our independent deterrent.
They would be an utter disaster in office, forced to erode our precious union by an alliance with the SNP.
And the only way we will let that happen is if we were so foolish as to descend into some pointless fratricidal debate about the future of our party when frankly there is no alternative vision that I am hearing.
We have the right ideas for the time, we can get this country through a difficult time and by supply side reform and bearing down on taxation. We can unleash the potential of this country
Let us refuse to dance to the tune of the media. Let us refuse to gratify our opponents by turning in on ourselves
Let's show this country that we understand that this is a moment to unite and to serve and if we can do that then believe you me.
Whatever they may say about me I will lead you to victory again, and the winners will be the people of this country
Rebels have been circulating a dossier branding Mr Johnson the 'Conservative Corbyn' and raising alarm about a looming electoral hammering from both Labour and the Lib Dems.
The rebels needed 180 votes to remove the Prime Minister – and he had an in-built advantage as around 170 Tory MPs are on the so-called 'payroll vote' because they have jobs as ministers, trade envoys, ministerial 'bag carriers' or party vice-chairmen.
It is a secret ballot though, so members of the government could oppose with premier without it becoming public.
One major problem for the rebels is the lack of an obvious replacement for Mr Johnson.
Rishi Sunak, previously regarded as the favourite, was also fined over Partygate and there is no other front runner.
Former Cabinet minister Mr Hunt has been touted as a contender, while Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is riding high with party grass roots. Tom Tugendhat is the only MP to have openly declared he wants to be PM.
The reception for Mr Johnson at a Jubilee event at St Paul's on Friday, which included booing mixed with cheering, seems to have swayed some MPs into joining the revolt.
Boris Johnson put a brave face on the situation at Jubilee celebrations with wife Carrie yesterday - despite having been informed by Sir Graham Brady shortly beforehand that he faces a no-confidence vote
In a letter to the PM, Mr Penrose accused him of breaching the code on the grounds that he had failed to provide adequate leadership over Partygate.
Mr Penrose said: 'The only fair conclusion to draw from the Sue Gray report is that you have breached a fundamental principle of the Ministerial Code – a clear resigning matter.
'But your letter to your independent adviser on the Ministerial Code ignores this absolutely central, non-negotiable issue completely. And, if it had addressed it, it is hard to see how it could have reached any other conclusion than that you had broken the code.'
He added: 'As a result, I'm afraid it wouldn't be honourable or right for me to remain as your anti-corruption champion after reaching this conclusion, nor for you to remain as Prime Minister either.
'I hope you will stand aside so we can look to the future and choose your successor.'
The PM's official spokesman said Mr Johnson did not accept that he violated the code.
'The Prime Minister addressed this last week. He set out his rationale on the code. Part of that involved correcting the parliamentary record at the earliest possible opportunity,' the spokesman said.
'The PM has set out his view in relation to the code and the fixed penalty notice that he received, both in terms of is overall response to Sue Gray but also addressing some of the points that were raised by Lord Geidt (the adviser on the code), last week.'
In what amounted to throwing his hat into the ring, Mr Hunt said: 'Having been trusted with power, Conservative MPs know in our hearts we are not giving the British people the leadership they deserve.
'We are not offering the integrity, competence and vision necessary to unleash the enormous potential of our country.
'And because we are no longer trusted by the electorate, who know this too, we are set to lose the next general election.'
Who is Graham Brady?
Known as the 'shop steward' of Tory MPs or the 'mouthpiece' of backbenchers, Sir Graham Brady is the chair of the powerful 1922 Committee.
The Committee's role is to oversee the election of Conservative leaders, or confidence votes in a current leader.
It has historically been referred to as the 'men in grey suits' - due to its influence over a Tory leader's fortunes.
Sir Graham became 1922 Committee chair shortly after David Cameron's Coalition government came to power in May 2010.
The Altrincham and Sale West MP, who was first elected to Parliament in 1997, had previously been a shadow minister but quit the role in 2007 due to Mr Cameron's opposition to grammar schools.
The 55-year-old voted against same-sex marriage in 2013 and was a supporter of Brexit ahead of the EU referendum in 2016.
He was a critic of Theresa May's Brexit deal, although he eventually voted in favour of it at the third time of asking.
Sir Graham was also a frequent opponent of Covid lockdown restrictions imposed by Boris Johnson during the pandemic.
In his role as 1922 Committee chair, Sir Graham oversaw the confidence vote in Mrs May in December 2018, which the former PM won by 200 votes to 117.
However, he did not oversee the election of Mr Johnson as Mrs May's successor.
Sir Graham resigned as 1922 Committee chair in May 2019 in order to 'consider' making a leadership bid himself.
He never actually put himself forward as a leadership candidate and returned as 1922 Committee chair in September 2019.
Sir Graham was re-elected as chair in July last year after surviving a bid by allies of Mr Johnson to oust him from the powerful post.
His role in Mrs May's eventual downfall as PM saw him revealed to have been the last person to meet with her before she spoke outside Number 10 to confirm her resignation in May 2019.
He was said to have gone into the meeting with an envelope of votes from the 1922 executive on whether to change the rules of the party to allow a second challenge to her leadership within 12 months.
Sir Graham is now poised to become the first ever 1922 chair to oversee two confidence votes in Tory leaders.
Guildford MP Angela Richardson said she would vote against Mr Johnson.
'From the very beginning of the issues surrounding the Prime Minister's conduct during the lockdown period and his subsequent answers to parliamentary questions, I have been consistent in my views about the standards people expect of those in high office,' she said.
'Last week, I made a statement following the publication of the full Sue Gray report that questioned whether those standards had been upheld.
'The deep disappointment I expressed in a previous statement in January has not abated.
'Given that, I will be voting no confidence in Boris Johnson this evening.'
As ministers toured broadcast studios, Mr Zahawi said it would be a 'disaster' if Mr Johnson was ousted – but refused to rule himself out as a candidate to replace him if it happened.
Mr Zahawi told BBC Radio 4's The World At One programme: 'It would be a disaster for us to now rid ourselves of a leader who has made the tough calls when it really mattered to this nation.
'To change a prime minister is to destabilise this Government when there is war in Europe. To destabilise the Government is a recipe for failure and for loss and I am not in the business of doing that.'
Pressed to say whether he could be a candidate in a leadership election if Mr Johnson was defeated, Mr Zahawi said: 'I am not going to do that because Boris will be our Prime Minister.'
In a round of interviews this morning, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said if Mr Johnson secures support from more than 50 per cent of MPs that will 'draw a line' under the revolt.
Sir Graham told journalists in Westminster: 'I notified the Prime Minister yesterday that the threshold had been reached.
'We agreed the timetable for the confidence vote to take place and he shared my view – which is also in line with the rules that we have in place – that that vote should happen as soon as could reasonably take place and that would be today.'
He refused to confirm how many letters had been received or when the threshold had been passed but said 'it is slightly complicated because some colleagues had asked specifically that it should not be until the end of the Jubilee celebrations'.
In a letter to the PM posted on social media, Mr Norman, the MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, said Mr Johnson had presided over 'a culture of casual law-breaking' in No 10 and that his claim to be vindicated by the Sue Gray report was 'grotesque'.
Some rebels are anxious that the timing could backfire as Mr Johnson is likely to win 50 per cent of the vote and survive.
He would theoretically be immune from another challenge for a year, even though the party looks set for more punishment in two crucial by-elections later this month.
But Sir Graham acknowledged that those procedures could be changed.
'Technically it's possible for rules to be changed but the rule at present is there would be a period of grace,' he told reporters.
Theresa May emerged victorious from a confidence vote, but was later forced to announce her resignation under threat that procedures would be redrawn to grant another ballot.
Ministers Ben Wallace, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak tipped to join former high-fliers Jeremy Hunt and Penny Mordaunt in any run to succeed PM
Tory MPs have been licking their lips at the thought of entering No10 as Prime Minister for months as Boris Johnson's backing within the party collapsed as a result of Partygate and other scandals.
Possible candidates to succeed him come from all wings of the party, from the libertarian right to the One Nation Tory centre.
Among the front-runners are Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and one of her predecessors in the post, Jeremy Hunt, both of whom have made little secret of their desire to take the top job.
Other candidates expected to join a leadership race include Defence Secretary Ben Wallace - who like Truss is very popular with grassroots Tories due to his tough position over the Ukraine war.
And outsiders could include people like Tom Tugendhat, the former British Army officer and chairman of the foreign affairs committee, and Mark Harper, the former chief whip turned critic of the PM's handling of the Covid pandemic.
Boris Johnson is the only member of the Cabinet in negative territory in the latest ConservativeHome grassroots poll
Here we look at the potential runners and riders in the event:
Liz Truss
- 46-year-old Foreign Secretary and South West Suffolk MP
- Has persistently been linked with a leadership challenge
- Has used role to recreate some classic images of ex-PM Margaret Thatcher
- Has faced a tough time with comments on the Ukraine conflict
The 46-year-old Foreign Secretary has been regularly linked with a tilt at No10. The former international trade secretary was promoted last year to succeed Dominic Raab.
The South West Norfolk MP has held a string of Cabinet posts under successive party leaders and is popular with the party grassroots.
But while she has been hawkish over the war in Ukraine, the conflict has hit her prospects after several stumbles.
Prior to the February 24 invasion she visited Russia for talks with her Kremlin counterpart Sergei Lavrov, in which she overtly channeled the style of Margaret Thatcher on a similar trip 35 years previously.
Her use of Instagram to share images of her looking tough and commanding has also drawn comment.
The Foreign Secretary posed for pictures in Red Square in a fur coat and hat, 35 years after the former Tory premier did the same on a visit to the then Soviet Union.
But she received a bit of a mauling from Putin's attack dog, who said their talks had been like 'the deaf talking to the blind'.
She was also criticised early in the conflict for urging Britons to go to fight for Russia even if they have no military experience, advice later contradicted by senior military figures.
But the Remain voter from 2016 has become a born-again Brexiteer in the years since, something that will aid her in any vote.
As Foreign Secretary she has taken on responsibility for negotiating changes to the Brexit agreement with the EU to sort out the political impasse in Northern Ireland. A deadlock-breaking agreement is unlikely but unilateral action by the UK is being mooted, which could help boost her credentials.
Jeremy Hunt
- 46-year-old Foreign Secretary and South West Suffolk MP
- Has persistently been linked with a leadership challenge
- Has used role to recreate some classic images of ex-PM Margaret Thatcher
- Has faced a tough time with comments on the Ukraine conflict
Jeremy Hunt lost heavily to Boris Johnson in the 2019 leadership election that followed the resignation of Theresa May.
But he is showing no signs of letting the mauling at the hands of Tory members dissuade him three years later.
The former minister turned Health Committee chairman has made a series of increasingly high profile public interventions on health policy in recent weeks.
And he has consistently refused to rule out running to replace Boris Johnson if he quits.
The former minister turned Health Committee chairman has made a series of increasingly high profile public interventions on health policy in recent weeks.
Last month he refused to say whether Boris Johnson was 'honest' as he warned the Prime Minister has a 'big mountain to climb' in winning back Tory voters.
The South West Surrey MP cast doubt on the PM's ability to once again prove a Tory vote winner as he insisted it would be a 'mistake' to dismiss the party's local election losses as 'mid-term blues'.
But the former Cabinet minister insisted now was not the time for renewed efforts to topple Mr Johnson and said he 'hoped' the PM would lead the Tories into the next general election.
The comments were seen as a warning shot to the PM - and a clear message to Tory MPs - that he is waiting in the wings should Mr Johnson continue to stumble.
Like Truss he is a former Remain voter who has become a convert to the Brexit cause. He also has his own fair share of gaffs in his locker, including describing his Chinese wife Lucia - with whom he has two children - as 'Japanese' in an interview.
Ben Wallace
- 52-year-old former British Army officer is Defence Secretary
- He is currently the most popular minister with the Tory grassroots
- Sandhurst-educated father of three has led efforts to arm Ukraine to fight off the Russian invasion
- Was targeted by Russian pranksters who managed to speak to him on a video call in March
Currently the most popular minister with Tory grassroots, according to the Conservative Home website.
The Defence Secretary's low profile has risen into full view as he emerged as one of the foremost Cabinet hawks on the Ukraine War.
The 52-year-old former Scots Guards officer has been at the forefront of efforts to supply Kyiv with weapons and expertise to fight off the Russian invasion, which has boosted his support base and name recognition.
The Sandhurst-educated father of three has overcome a Russian attempt to humiliate him after a Kremlin-backed prankster managed to get through to him on a video call, parts of which were later broadcast on YouTube.
He was asked if he supported Ukraine's 'nuclear aims' by a man claiming to be the PM of Ukraine.
He has also avoided being implicated in the worst failures of the UK's retreat from Afghanistan last summer, with blame being generally laid at the door of the Foreign Office.
The Defence Secretary's low profile has risen into full view as he emerged as one of the foremost Cabinet hawks on the Ukraine War.
Last week he confirmed Britain is to arm Ukraine with precision-guided M270 rockets that have a range of up to 50 miles to help match Russia's artillery arsenal.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded heavier weapons to counter Russia's artillery. Germany and the US have also pledged long-range weapon systems.
Today he tweeted: 'In 2019 Boris won with a majority of 80. He has delivered victories in seats we have never held before.
'On Covid, on Ukraine he has helped deliver a world leading response. He has my full confidence.'
Rishi Sunak
- Chancellor was top-rated minister at the end of 2021 after Covid largesse
- But profile has gone into freefall after a series of controversies in 2022
- Wife revealed to be a non-dom taxpayer living in Downing Street
- Sunak himself also faced questions over US Green Card possession
At the end of 2021 the Chancellor was the number one candidate to succeed Boris Johnson.
His largesse with taxpayers' cash during the Covid crisis - furlough payments and other measures - and slick social media campaigns made him widely popular within the party and with the wider electorate.
It was a rapid rise to the top for a minister who only became Chancellor weeks before lockdown kicked in early in 2020.
But the popularity of 'Brand Rishi' has taken a tumble in 2022 amid a series of controversies and rows with No10.
In the spring it was revealed his multi-millionaire heiress wife Akshata Murty was revealed to be living in Downing Street while having non-dom tax status.
At the end of 2021 the Chancellor was the number one candidate to succeed Boris Johnson.
Rishi Sunak was hit by a political backlash over the news that his heiress wife Akshata Murty was domiciled in India for tax purposes
She has legally avoided paying a huge UK tax bill by paying £30,000 a year to register as based in India.
He insisted she hasn't 'done anything wrong' while accusing his critics of 'smearing her to get at him'. She later agreed to pay full UK tax.
Later it emerged Mr Sunak, a father of two and former international banker, himself held a US Green Card for a year into his term leading the Treasury.
While the status would not save him any money on his tax bill, it carries a responsibility to make the United States 'your permanent home'.
There were also a series of rows with No 10 after recovery spending and his involvement with Partygate: he received a £50 fine for attending Boris Johnson's surprise - and rule-breaking - birthday party in No10 in June 2020, even though he claimed he was just passing through on his way to a meeting.
His supporters blamed No10 for embroiling him in the controversy, souring an already acidic relationship within Downing Street.
Today he tweeted: 'From the vaccine rollout to our response to Russian aggression, the PM has shown the strong leadership our country needs.
'I am backing him today and will continue to back him as we focus on growing the economy, tackling the cost of living and clearing the Covid backlogs.'
Penny Mordaunt
- Trade minister and Royal Navy reservist who backed Jeremy Hunt in 2019
- Ignored other ministers tweeting support for PM to instead write about D-Day
- She was the first woman to serve as defence secretary and was also international trade secretary
- Appeared on reality TV show in 2014 wearing just a swimsuit
Penny Mordaunt has already emerged as possibly one of the least subtle potential candidates to run.
While other ministers spend this morning tweeting their support of the Prime Minister, she pointedly tweeted ... about attending a D-Day ceremony in Portsmouth, where she is an MP.
'Today I will be attending Portsmouth's commemoration service to remember the efforts and sacrifice of #DDay,' she wrote.
The Brexiteer, 49, a naval reservist who once appeared on reality TV in a swimsuit, is popular with party members.
She was the first woman to serve as defence secretary and was also international trade secretary and is currently a trade minister.
Supporters have pushed her credentials as the potential unity candidate any leadership race appears to lack - she is a Brexit voter who backed Jeremy Hunt in 2019.
She was the first woman to serve as defence secretary and was also international trade secretary and is currently a trade minister.
The Brexiteer, 49, a naval reservist who once appeared on reality TV in a swimsuit, is popular with party members.
Ms Mordaunt hs already been on resignation watch once this year. In January she spoke out against a proposed £1.2 billion underwater electricity cable project backed by a Russian oligarch and major Tory donor.
She opposed plans by Aquind, co-owned by Alexander Temerko, to construct the interconnector under the Channel between Normandy and Portsmouth.
Temerko, who previously ran a firm producing weapons for Russia's military, and Aquind have given more than £1 million to the Tories and the oligarch has regularly featured in photos at fundraisers with Prime Ministers and their Cabinets.
Government sources said Mordaunt was ready to quit if the cable was approved. The project was later rejected.
Tom Tugendhat: Iraq and Afghanistan veteran turned China and foreign affairs hawk
- An Army reservist who served in Iraq and Afghanistan
- The son of a high court judge and the nephew of a Tory peer.
- Father of two said in 2017 that it would be 'great to be PM'.
Another Tory MP with military experience. Tugendhat, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, is a confirmed Boris critic who has taken aim at the government over its attitude to China and the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Some MPs believe the 48-year-old, an Army reservist who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, would be well-suited to the role and represents the 'best chance for a fresh start'.
However, some are concerned about his lack of political experience and voting for a second posh PM in a row. He is the son of a high court judge and the nephew of a Tory peer.
Mr Tugendhat, who is married with two children, has previously made clear that he would fancy a tilt at the top job, saying in 2017 that it would be 'great to be PM'.
Some MPs believe the 48-year-old, an Army reservist who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, would be well-suited to the role and represents the 'best chance for a fresh start'.
He was a member of the Territorial Army when the Iraq War broke out in 2003 and he was mobilised as an Arabic-speaking intelligence officer to serve with the Royal Marines. He went into Iraq as part of Operation TELIC - the initial invasion.
After the war he returned to a job in the City of London but then went back to Iraq to help with the economic reconstruction of the country.
In 2006 the Foreign Office then asked Mr Tugendhat to go to Afghanistan to help grow its national security council. The Tory MP can speak Arabic, Dari and French.
The Tory MP was applauded in the House of Commons during a debate on the UK's exit from Afghanistan in August 2021 as he detailed his experience in the country.
He told a silent chamber: 'Like many veterans, this last week has seen me struggle through anger, grief and rage—through the feeling of abandonment of not just a country, but the sacrifice that my friends made.
'I have been to funerals from Poole to Dunblane. I have watched good men go into the earth, taking with them a part of me and a part of all of us. This week has torn open some of those wounds, has left them raw and left us all hurting.'
Nadhim Zahawi: Minister who came to the UK as a child refugee and made a fortune
- Kurdish Iraqi arrived in the Uk as a refugee from Saddam Hussein's regime
- One of the wealthiest members of Parliament, he set up polling company YouGov
- He is said to have a property empire worth around £100million.
Mr Zahawi is seen by some as an outside choice to replace the PM. He has a strong personal back story that culminated in him becoming the first Kurdish Iraqi MP.
The Education Secretary fled Saddam Hussein's Iraq with his family when he was a child. Privately-educated at King's College School in West London and University College London where he studied chemical engineering.
One of the wealthiest members of Parliament, he went on to be named 'entrepreneur of the year' by Ernst & Young and set up successful polling company YouGov.
He is said to have a property empire worth around £100million.
The Education Secretary fled Saddam Hussein's Iraq with his family when he was a child. Privately-educated at King's College School in West London and University College London where he studied chemical engineering.
The father-of-three was elected MP in 2010 - the first Kurdish Iraqi to be elected to Parliament.
The Brexit-supporting minister is trusted by Number 10 and is a regular feature on the morning media round.
Despite initially backing Dominic Raab for Conservative party leader in 2019, he has been loyal to Mr Johnson ever since.
He was previously children's minister from January 2018 to July 2019, during which time he attended the controversial Presidents Club Ball.
He was said to have been given a dressing down by the chief whip after complaints of sexism and harassment at the all-male gathering for the business elite.
During the MPs expenses scandal, he was forced to apologise for claiming taxpayers' money to heat his stables on his Warwickshire estate.
The inside story of Boris Johnson's longest day: The Sunday phone call he'd dreaded, a poker face at Palace pageant, late-night crisis meeting in No 10 flat... and Theresa May voting in a ballgown. How the Prime Minister survived a major scare... for now
By Jason Groves Political Editor for the Daily Mail
The call that Boris Johnson has been dreading for months finally came on Sunday afternoon. As the Prime Minister prepared to attend the Jubilee Pageant on The Mall, the Downing Street switchboard told him Sir Graham Brady was on the line.
Sir Graham, head of the ‘men in suits’ of the Tories’ 1922 Committee, got straight to the point. For all the talk of a ‘Jubilee truce’, the number of letters from mutinous MPs calling for a vote of no-confidence in the PM had passed 54 – the level needed to trigger a formal vote.
What is more, several other MPs had sent post-dated letters that would become active as soon as the four-day Jubilee celebrations were over. A contest was inevitable. The only question was, how quickly did the PM want to act? Mr Johnson did not hesitate, telling Sir Graham: ‘Let’s get this over with and move on.’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at Parliament today
After that, there was just time to summon a meeting of his inner circle for that evening, before heading off to the pageant, where he and his wife Carrie took their places behind the Duchess of Cambridge to watch the gloriously British display.
If he was concerned about the potentially career-ending vote he did not let it show. He could not afford to – not only were the world’s cameras in attendance, but Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was seated just a few places along.
On the PM’s return to No 10, his allies gathered in his Downing Street flat to dust off a plan that has been in preparation since January, when the Partygate row was at its height. In the room were Mr Johnson’s chief of staff Steve Barclay, chief whip Chris Heaton-Harris, long-time ally Nigel Adams, communications chief Guto Harri and Ross Kempsell, political director of the Conservative Research Department. Also in attendance was polling guru Sir Lynton Crosby, who has no formal role in government, but whose advice the PM has trusted for years.
‘It was calm,’ one source said. ‘We’ve had a plan for a long time – it was just a matter of going over that, checking it, tweaking it and putting it in motion.
‘It was also pretty clear the other lot didn’t have a plan. They stumbled into this without any idea of what would come next.’
The meeting also discussed how the PM could stamp his authority on the party again after what looked certain to be a bruising, divisive experience.
Plans for a summer reshuffle could be fast-tracked to take place in the coming days. Mr Johnson was also advised to withdraw the whip from the ‘serially disloyal’.
Carrie Johnson and Boris Johnson during the Platinum Jubilee Pageant in front of Buckingham Palace yesterday
‘The PM’s weakness is he’s too nice to people,’ one source said. ‘We need to start getting tough with some of these people and send a message that we’re not going to put up with it any more.’ The PM then worked on a personal letter to Tory MPs, which was sent to aides for approval at 10.30pm.
News of the impending contest was kept extremely tight – to the extent that even Health Secretary Sajid Javid was not told before he was sent out to defend the Government on a morning broadcast round. But the surprises were also still coming for No 10.
At 7.36am, the PM’s old friend Jesse Norman plunged the knife in, releasing a scathing letter saying the Government ‘lacks a sense of mission’. Mr Norman said neither the Tories nor the country could afford to ‘squander the next two years adrift and distracted by endless debate about you and your leadership’.
One insider acknowledged that Mr Norman, an Eton contemporary of Mr Johnson who backed him for the leadership, was ‘not on anyone’s list’ of likely rebels.
A couple of minutes after 8am, Sir Graham broke cover to tell the world that ‘the threshold has been reached’, triggering a formal vote of confidence later that evening. A few minutes later, a one-page summary of the case for the PM’s defence dropped into Tory MPs’ inboxes. At 9am, government whips were summoned to a meeting to war-game the day and identify the waverers who might respond positively to a call from Mr Johnson.
Boris Johnson speaking on the phone with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from his office in 10 Downing Stree
The PM also spent an hour personalising his letters to MPs, with a handwritten note on each one – a use of time that raised eyebrows among some supporters.
No 10’s confidence had previously been buoyed by the fact that there was no obvious challenger. As one old hand put it: ‘You can’t have a challenge without a challenger.’ That changed shortly before 11am when Jeremy Hunt took to social media to savage the PM. The former foreign secretary, who was defeated by Mr Johnson in the 2019 leadership contest, has been ‘on manoeuvres’ at Westminster for months.
He did not mince his words, saying: ‘Today’s decision is change or lose. I will be voting for change.’
Mr Hunt is widely seen as one of the leading agitators undermining the PM and the Government. The response from Mr Johnson’s allies was immediate and brutal.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries said: ‘Your pandemic preparation during six years as health secretary was found wanting and inadequate. Your duplicity right now in destabilising the party and country to serve your own personal ambition, more so.’ Her no-nonsense response underlined how difficult it could be to put the Tory Party together again after last night’s vote.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said he was ‘heartbroken’ to see senior colleagues tearing lumps out of each other.
A No 10 insider acknowledged that Mrs Dorries’ forthright response ‘wasn’t in the comms playbook’, but said she ‘speaks from the heart’. Privately, loyalists were delighted to see Mr Hunt flushed out, believing some of the PM’s Brexiteer critics might pause for thought at the prospect of a Hunt takeover.
The business of government also had to continue. The PM pressed ahead with a planned phone call with Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky. He then hosted a meeting about Ukraine with Estonian PM Kaja Kallas.
In Portcullis House, the large office block in which coffee shops serve as Parliament’s public square, Tory whips stationed spies to report on who the plotters were meeting.
Yet there was some unease at the effectiveness of the No 10 operation. Some wavering MPs said they had not been called.
Mr Johnson (L) welcomes Estonia's prime minister Kaja Kallas during a bilateral meeting today
And while loyalist ministers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg were all over the airwaves making the case that a win by one vote is ‘enough’ for the PM to continue, Cabinet big-hitters Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Priti Patel confined their enthusiasm to tweets or brief statements. None of Mr Johnson’s predecessors as prime minister offered any words of support.
At 4pm, Mr Johnson came to make his own final appeal to MPs, setting out plans for the future ‘if I am still here’. Speaking at a packed meeting of the 1922 Committee, he pleaded with MPs to break free from the ‘media-driven focus’ on his leadership and concentrate on delivering for the public – and taking the fight to Labour.
‘This is not the moment for a leisurely and entirely unforced domestic political drama,’ he said. ‘This is the moment for us to lift our gaze from our navel.’ He highlighted his own track record of winning elections, dangled a hint of future tax cuts and gently pointed out that the rebels have ‘no alternative agenda’. To no one’s surprise he faced hostile questions on Party-gate from long-time malcontents Mark Harper and John Baron.
Then the voting began. Veteran MP Sir Peter Bottomley headed a queue of 20 as the ballot opened in Parliament’s committee room 10. Mr Hunt arrived ten minutes after polls opened, accompanied by supporters Philip Dunne and Dan Poulter. Theresa May looked dressed to celebrate, sweeping past reporters wearing a full-length ballgown and sequinned heels.
The PM continued to work the phones from his Commons office to try to twist a final few arms.
But eventually there was nothing more to do but wander up the corridor to cast his own vote. And wait for Sir Graham’s verdict.
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Boris Johnson suffers blow in Tory confidence vote
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