Two more Conservative MPs have withdrawn their support for Boris Johnson following Sue Gray’s report on the Downing Street confinement party.
Announcements by John Baron and David Simmonds follow a similar call from his background colleague Julian Sturdy on Wednesday.
Mr Baron said the findings of the senior official, Mrs Gray, as well as the Met police investigation into the episode “paint a shameful pattern of misconduct during the pandemic, as the rest of us we comply with COVID regulations “.
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Simmonds said it was “clear that while the government and our policies enjoy the trust of the public, the Prime Minister does not” and that it was time for a “new leadership”.
Sturdy had already called for the Prime Minister to leave after Mrs Gray’s report, saying “it was in the public interest for her to resign”.
The latest statements mean that there are now 18 Conservative MPs who have publicly called for the resignation of the Prime Minister since he was fined for breaching the blocking rules.
Others have been ambiguous, citing factors such as the war in Ukraine as reasons why they are left in the lurch at the moment.
It is unclear how many letters of censure have been sent to Mr. Johnson, with 54 required to provoke a parliamentary vote on his leadership.
The two MPs’ announcements come a day after Mrs Gray’s report set out details of drunken parties, fights and karaoke on Downing Street in 2020 and 2021 at a time when there were restrictions on COVID-19.
Baron and Simmonds made public shortly before an expected statement by Chancellor Rishi Sunak on a new package of measures to help households struggling with rising cost of living.
Mr Sunak’s move is seen as an attempt to move the agenda after months in which the government has been haunted by police investigation and Mrs Gray’s report at the party door.
The Prime Minister is still facing an investigation by a parliamentary committee into whether he deceived MPs when he claimed at an earlier stage during the scandal that no rule had been broken.
He said he was dismayed and humiliated by Mrs Gray’s findings as she apologized during a series of public appearances, a press conference and a closed-door meeting of the 1922 committee of deputies after the full publication. of the report.
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Baron said in a statement: “The Sue Gray report and the Metropolitan Police investigation are drawing a shameful pattern of misconduct during the pandemic, as the rest of us followed COVID regulations.
“However, for me the most serious accusation against the Prime Minister is that of consciously deceiving parliament.
“Parliament is the beating heart of our nation.
“Consciously deceiving him cannot be tolerated, whatever the issue. Whether or not the prime minister is an asset to the party or the country is of the utmost importance.
“Having always said that I would take into account all the evidence available before deciding, I am afraid that the Prime Minister will no longer enjoy my support; I can no longer give him the benefit of the doubt.”
Conservative MPs are wondering if the prime minister is now harming the party’s brand
Sam Coates
Political Deputy Director
@SamCoatesSky
In her report yesterday, Sue Gray said seniors had to take responsibility for the culture that provoked rule-breaking parties in Downing Street and Whitehall during the blockade.
What he did not offer was an explanation of why Boris Johnson could specifically take responsibility for what happened at the events, even when he was not present.
The absence of such an explanation has allowed both the Prime Minister himself and his cabinet colleagues who have been interviewed by the media since then to argue that it could not be expected to solve a problem of which he was unaware.
But John Barron, one of three Conservative MPs who has withdrawn his confidence in the Prime Minister since the publication of this report, says he does not accept it.
His statement makes it clear that he simply does not believe that the Prime Minister could have completely ignored the fact that 200 people were invited to a garden party at number 10.
Meanwhile, David Simmonds, whose constituency is adjacent to Johnson’s, focuses on a slightly different point in his statement.
He argues that the government and its policies are popular with voters, but that once a voter wins, Boris Johnson has now become a threat to it. This argument echoes what I heard this morning talking to parliamentarians in parliament.
There is a feeling, especially among the 18 Conservative MPs who have now publicly called for the departure of Boris Johnson, who is politically damaged and whose brand is dragging the party. They believe it will make it harder for them to win the next election.
But they are also frustrated. Because even though there have been many private complaints about the Prime Minister among his comrades, the number they are willing to present to demand his departure is still insufficient.
Simmonds said: “I heard what the Prime Minister had to say to the Prime Minister’s questions, his statement and the 1922 committee yesterday after the publication of Sue Gray’s report.
“Having reflected on what he said and the views of voters and my Conservative association, it is clear that while the government and our policies enjoy public confidence, the Prime Minister does not.
“Consequently, it is time for him to step down so that the new leadership can carry out the important task of government to ensure that our people and our country prosper.”