Boris Johnson is facing a make-or-break PMQs today as dozens of Red Wall Tories threaten to put in no-confidence letters within hours amid rising anger over Partygate.
Ministers are hurling abuse at a party of newly elected MPs as they try to stop a coup attempt known as the ‘Pork Pie Plot. This is because Melton Mowbray was one of those plotters.
A total of 20 MPs were said to have met at lunch yesterday to plan the sending out of letters necessary to trigger a vote against Mr Johnson. This revolt was inspired by the Premier’s car-crash interview. He appeared almost in tears during his questioning about the litany about Lockdown violations at Downing Street.
Rumours abound that the 54-letter threshold to trigger an absolute no confidence vote could still be met today, although Sir Graham Brady, the 1922 chair of the committee keeps it a tightly-guarded secret.
Although seven MPs confirmed that they had spoken to Sir Graham publicly, there is a possibility that the real number could be considerably higher. A desperate attack by ministers and whips – including branding them ‘f***** nobodies’ seems to have backfired.
James Heapppey, Defence Minister was dispatched to present the case for PM today. He stated that he trusted the leader but admitted that he had also been ‘battered by voters’.
I believe everything the Prime Minister says. However, I am aware that it is not sufficient for many constituents” he stated.
Heappey stated that he believed everyone in Government and Parliament were acutely worried about the events of recent days as well as the reactions from the public.
“Our boss isn’t the Prime Minister. Our boss are those who sent us to Westminster as representatives of us. They are furious about what they heard and it does not surprise me that each member of Government and every member of the party is trying to balance these two loyalties.
Senior party sources last night identified Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison and fellow Tory Alicia Kearns as ringleaders, while Gary Sambrook from Birmingham Northfield and Chris Loder from West Dorset are also thought to have had prominent roles.
Miss Kearns (MP for Melton Mowbray) was involved in the attempted coup. This led to it being called “Pork Pie Plot”.
According to The Times, in an effort to calm some unrest, PM met with representatives of 2019-intake groups last night at his Commons office.
An analysis of the Facebook pages and email accounts of Conservative MPs suggests that anger is common within the party. There have been 58 occasions where Mr Johnson has been criticized since the apology was issued last week. 16 of those instances were from people elected less than two years ago.
Dehenna Davison with rescued puppy ‘Carter’ pictured next to Carrie Johnson with dog Dilyn and Rishi Sunak, canvasing in Bishop Auckland. This is her ringleader, it’s believed.
Some backbench Tory plotters are Alicia Kearns, who represents Melton Mowbray and Gary Sambrook from Birmingham Northfield
Christian Wakeford, Bury South MP (right), was another alleged conspirator. He became the seventh Tory politician to publicly announce that he had sent a letter in no confidence to Sir Graham Brady (right).
James Heapppey, the Defence Minister was dispatched to present the case for PM today. However, he admitted that he had also been “battered” by voters.
Senior Tory MPs William Wragg and Chris Green hit out at briefing against the Red Wall rebels – including one source who branded them ‘f****** nobodies’
Christian Wakeford from Bury South was another alleged conspirator. He became the seventh Tory politician to publicly announce that he had sent a letter in no confidence to Sir Graham Brady, party shop steward. It is believed that the conspirators discussed today’s submission of their letters.
Yesterday, many had already returned to Westminster with their ears still ringing due to the angry complaints made against the PM by constituents.
Many Tory MPs are owed their position to the 2019 general election win. However, they were still seeing the same figure on their televisions and on their mobile phones all afternoon. This puts them under increasing pressure.
One 2019 Tory MP was present during the meeting and told The Telegraph that “did everyone talk about anger?” Yes. Are people imagining this as potentially fatal? Yes. Do people think about what will happen to their party in the next months? Yes. Yes. Yes, they do. Are you sure there is a possibility that many people will send their letters? “Yes, that’s what I believe.
Another told the Times that MPs expressed ‘exasperation’ over the parties, and that the fact one of them took place on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral had ‘taken them over the edge’.
A group of MPs may hand them in in an en masse gesture after Prime Minister’s questions today. It could be a powerful move that could see a confidence vote held in just days.
Others are worried that, if the ballot is not held prior to Sue Gray’s full investigation into ‘partygate”, those who are still waiting for her judgement could vote against Mr Johnson and then protect him from any further challenges for one year.
Some believe Dominic Cummings will still publish harmful allegations even after the PM has been exonerated. A source said that it would be “death by thousand blogs”.
In response, ministers were outraged because the rebellion came as Mr Johnson was poised to end Covid Plan B measures and figures showed a ‘jobs miracle’ – with unemployment down to within a whisker of pre-pandemic levels.
According to a Tory senior source, Miss Davison was accused of conspiring with Nigel Farage and other Ukip leaders in bringing down the PM.
Sources also claimed that the plotters were hypocrites, and Miss Davison had held drinking sessions regularly for her colleagues at work.
The Cabinet minister said that new MPs panicked over the slump in polls. He added: “David Cameron was 13 points behind the polls in three years. George Osborne was also 13 points behind the polls in those same years.” Thatcher stated that if you’re not in the polls at midterm, you’re not working hard enough to be a government.
Another described the plot as ‘pretty sickening’, adding that many of the plotters were elected because of Mr Johnson – ‘most of them are a load of ******* nobodies’.
A Tory sympathizer with the plotters responded to last night’s party toxicity by saying, “This belittles many MPs who represented people who were affected during Covid.” It is unlikely that No. 10 wants to restore relations with Paterson’s successors.
After a long day of intense briefing and counterbriefing, a Tory senior source stated that Therese Cooper, Work and Pensions Secretary had been involved with the opposition to Mr Johnson.
The PM and Miss Coffey had an altercation yesterday over the future fee for the BBC. No 10 said that disloyalty claims ‘didn’t represent the views of the Prime Minister.
One Tory source said that Liz Truss’ potential leaders are friends with Miss Davison, Miss Kearns, and Miss Coffey.
Last night, the Foreign Secretary embarked on an Australian trip. An ally stated that she was not involved in any planning and added: “She is 100% behind the PM.”
50-four is the minimum number needed to activate a poll. Although it is not known how close plotters may be to this figure, the discussions amongst so many MPs is a worrying sign for Johnson
Chris Loder, who was elected MP for West Dorset (left), says that many of his constituents have criticized Mr Johnson in the wake of ‘Partygate. Last month, he also rebelled against Covid curbs. Meanwhile, a senior Tory source claimed that Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey (right) had been involved in agitating against Mr Johnson
As Tory whips tried to control anger about the so-called “Partygate” controversy, they plotted.
After a self-imposed Covid isolation, Johnson took cover yesterday to say that he wanted ‘humbly to apologize to people’ for the misjudgments he made in allowing lockdown to occur at No 10.
He said that he felt that an event like a “bring you own booze” party in the backyard at the peak of lockdown was a work event.
The Queen was moved by his public apology for No 10’s two drunken parties at Prince Philip’s funeral. Covid regulations meant that she could only sit on her own.
As he sat heavily behind a mask, the man repeatedly refused to state whether or not he would resign if proved that he deliberately misled Parliament.
Dominic Cummings was Dominic’s former chief advisor, and his latest blog contradicts him. He seems determined to take down his ex boss.
Cummings stated that the events of 20 mai alone and the series of events surrounding them, meant the PM had lied to Parliament about the parties. Although Johnson offered his sincere and humble apologies for his actions, anger was provoked by his defense that “no one had warned him”.
Some Tory MPs were able to see that his downbeat, intended to demonstrate humility, seemed to make them more hostile to him.
An ex-Minister in Cabinet stated that the PM can still fight for survival if he really wishes to. But he will have to fight – and it looked like the fight had gone out of him.’
There were indications last night that the mutiny had spread. Tory whips have been prepared for floods of confidence letters from Miss Gray, who could report as early as tomorrow on party allegations. The plotters may not be able to reach the 54 required to activate a vote.
One former minister said a leadership challenge was now ‘inevitable’ at some point – possibly within weeks.
Also, there were signs that parts of the Tory Right had not been impressed by headline-grabbing announcements. It was criticized that the Navy announcement about helping to police Channel migrant crossings was just window dressing.
Johnson came under pressure all day, including criticism from a five-year-old girl.
Little Layla Somani was a Leicestershire girl who had watched the news as she ate breakfast. Then, last week, she decided to take it upon herself, to inform her grandparents Kusun Somani and Kanti Somani about the current political situation.
Devina Somani (37), and Nick Somani (41) captured her hilarious monologue and posted it online. Social media users called her a “future PM”.
Five-year-old Boris Johnson said that Prime Minister has been naughty and should be taken to the ‘naughty center’
Layla laughs as she explains in the hilarious clip that Boris Johnson had told everyone to go home but he didn’t. He just went down to the lockdown to have a party.
“He was naughty so he went to the naughty center to apologize for attending a lockdown party.
“Now, he cannot be prime minister anymore. He can’t return to his home as prime minister. So he isn’t prime minister anymore.
“So, another person is the prime minister. And there will be an excellent prime minister. However, Boris Johnson isn’t a prime minster anymore. He’s a poor prime minister.
“But, if luck is with him, he will be able to go home as a prime minister, and can become one again. If he is lucky, we’ll find out tomorrow.
Devina now explains that her mother Devina is a staunch royalist who has said she will be ‘definitely the prime minister’. This video has received more than 55,000 views, 1,645 comments and has received over 16,000 reactions.
Devina stated, “We couldn’t stop laughing.” It was amazing to see how many things she had accumulated.
We thought, “Oh my god!” when she began to explain it. It was amazing to see how much she knew and how well she was understanding it.
It was an ordinary morning. As she was having breakfast, she was also watching a little bit of the latest news.
“She was able to explain it to the group. Nick responded, “hold on, stop there” and began to film it.
“She started to come out with it. She told him he needed to go to the naughty place and leave his house. This was even more fun.
“It was incredible to capture this moment, because some of the things she said you missed. Perhaps she will become a politician.
“She has absorbed it from the news.” She could tell the difference between right and wrong.