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The Oris Johnson government received a new blow on Friday when a fifth new MP asked for his resignation following Sue Gray’s report.
Bromley and Chislehurst MPs Sir Bob Neill urged the Prime Minister to resign on Friday afternoon.
He said he had sent a letter of censure to the Prime Minister to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Conservative Committee of Deputies.
In recent days, Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond, David Simmonds, Ruislip MP, Northwood and Pinner MP, Billericay MP John Baron and York MP Julian Sturdy have issued statements calling for Mr Johnson to resign following the report. Gray on Wednesday over the party scandal.
Sir Bob, chairman of the Commons justice committee, said: “My years as a lawyer have taught me not to draw conclusions without the fullest possible evidence.
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“I was equally clear that we cannot have one rule for those who work for the government and a different one for everyone else. Those of us who set the rules have a particular responsibility to abide by them ourselves.”
He added: “Sue Gray’s report has revealed a totally unacceptable pattern of behavior, spread over several months, by some working at 10 Downing Street, including non-compliance with the rules that caused real pain and hardship to many, and that the government and we as parliamentarians were telling others to live.
“I have listened carefully to the explanations given by the Prime Minister, in Parliament and elsewhere, and unfortunately I do not find his statements credible.
“That’s why, with a heavy heart, I sent a letter of censure to Sir Graham Brady on Wednesday afternoon.”
He emphasized: “Confidence is the most important commodity in politics, but these events have undermined confidence not only in the Prime Minister’s office, but also in the political process itself. To rebuild that confidence and move forward, change is needed. of leadership “.
Sir Bob’s intervention came just hours after the resignation of a government aide who criticized the “toxic culture that seemed to have permeated the number 10.”
Eastleigh MP Paul Holmes has resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Home Secretary Priti Patel.
In a statement condemning the partygate scandal, he said: “It is clear to me that these facts have created deep mistrust in both the government and the Conservative Party, which hurts me personally as someone who always tries. represent Eastleigh and its people with integrity.
“It is distressing to me that this work on your behalf has been tainted by the toxic culture that seemed to have permeated the number 10.”
He added: “Over the last few weeks, this anxiety has led me to conclude that I want to continue to focus solely on my efforts to be your MP and the campaigns that are important to you. That is why I have now given up my governmental responsibilities as Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior. “
Separately, Alicia Kearns, the Conservative MP elected during the victory in Mr Johnson’s 2019 election, said she had concluded, following Mrs Gray’s report, that the Prime Minister had deceived Parliament into saying that Covid’s rules had been upheld on Downing Street.
Ms Kearns, in a post on Facebook, said she still lacked confidence in the prime minister, a position she first asserted in January.
The Rutland and Melton MP said: “It is wrong to forbid families from saying goodbye to their dying loved ones, while the Prime Minister was complicit in holding many of his staff’s farewell parties, which we now know that they showed total contempt for restrictions and were filled with vomiting, fights and bullying.
“I can only conclude that the Prime Minister’s account of events in Parliament was misleading.”
Ms. Kearns did not say whether her lack of confidence in Johnson had led her to send a letter of censure.
The prime minister was already facing the threat of a growing revolt on Friday with six more Conservative MPs who are said to have privately sent letters of censure on him since the publication of Sue Gray’s report.
But Johnson said during a visit to Stockton-on-Tees, where he met apprentices laying fiber cables, that he is confident he has enough support within his party to stay in office.
Asked about the Gray report, he dismissed the question saying, “I think the other day I gave some pretty vintage and comprehensive answers on this whole issue in the House of Commons and then at a subsequent press conference.”
He tried to divert questions further when asked why he tolerated the culture that saw staff drinking so much that he was sick, engaged in altercations, and abused security and cleaning staff.
“If you look at the answers in the House of Commons for more than two hours, I think you can see that I answered them very, very broadly,” Johnson said.
However, more MPs were considering whether to continue supporting him or not.
Prime Minister John Penrose’s anti-corruption MP said on Thursday he would “fall asleep” when asked if he would write to Sir Graham.
If he receives 54 letters from Conservative MPs, it would provoke a vote of confidence in Johnson’s leadership.
Following the compelling report on the party scandal, Mr Penrose told LBC Radio that there was “great concern about whether or not [the PM] telling the truth to Parliament ”.
It was unclear this morning whether Mr. Penrose had sent a letter.
But many Conservative MPs still support Johnson. James Grundy, elected Conservative MP for Leigh in 2019, told the Standard: “Concern over the cost of living crisis is the main concern of my constituents. I don’t think it’s time to blow up the government.”
The father of the house, Sir Peter Bottomley, said: “I don’t think the progress of the last week has made a significant difference. He is prime minister, people should not expect him to stop being prime minister.”
The cabinet has gathered around Mr Johnson, even leader Chris Heaton-Harris taking the unusual step for this post to publicly express its support.
He tweeted earlier this week: “Sue Gray’s report has been published and the Prime Minister has apologized. There are many problems facing our country and Parliament must look out. and to address them. Our Prime Minister is a man who has consistently hit the big calls and will continue to do so. “
Many deputies at a 1922 committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon also supported the prime minister.
The rebels believe they can “easily” get 54 names to get a vote of confidence in Johnson, but they are not confident of getting 100.
Therefore, if there is a vote, he can win it and the crucial question would be whether he maintained enough support within the parliamentary party to continue as prime minister.
Mrs Gray’s report at the party’s doorstep investigated 16 meetings in Downing Street and Whitehall, including eight attended by the Prime Minister.
Johnson was only fined for attending a meeting, his birthday party in the Cabinet Room in June 2020, but Ms. Gray criticized the culture and leadership at number 10 she chaired.
The senior official’s report found that a large number of people attended events and violated Covid’s guidelines and staff felt unable to raise concerns about their behavior. Although social gatherings were forbidden, in some acts there was an excessive consumption of alcohol, in one a person was ill and there was a fight.
Some staff members tried to hide that the parties were taking place, even going out the back door of Downing Street. Johnson has denied cheating Parliament, insisting he was unaware of the rule breach at No. 10. But he faces an investigation by the Commons Privilege Committee to see if he cheated to the knowledge of the Commons.
Detectives investigated 12 of the events in Ms. Gray’s report and issued 126 fines for Covid’s violations to 83 people. Met leaders have defended the basis of how they decide who should be fined, including whether people attended the meetings in a “work-related” context.