A senior Tory has warned Boris Johnson's future is hanging in the balance as it's now a question of "when not if a vote of no confidence will take place".
Tobias Ellwood is among a number of veteran figures within the Conservative Party calling for the Prime Minister to quit, even as he tried to use a trip to India to distract attention away from his domestic woes.
Steve Baker, who played a key role in bringing down Theresa May, yesterday told the PM: "The gig's up".
William Wragg said it had become "utterly depressing" backing Mr Johnson's behaviour, likening it to "defending the indefensible".
He claimed each time a Tory had to defend the PM "a part of us withers".
This morning Mr Ellwood told BBC Radio 4 the Prime Minister is "causing long term damage to the [Conservative] party's brand".
"It’s now when not if a vote of confidence takes place.”
Mr Ellwood went on to criticise those who claimed the PM could not leave office during the Ukraine crisis because the "machine" that is the Ministry of Defence will be there for any Prime Minister who takes Mr Johnson's place.
Yesterday, Tory Baroness Altman joined the calls for Mr Johnson to quit, warning the majority of Tory peers "in their heart of hearts" did not feel they could support Mr Johnson over his law-breaking.
Mr Johnson is now subject to three official investigations into Covid lockdown law-breaking at the heart of Government.
He will now officially be investigated by the Privileges Committee over allegations he misled Parliament at least four times over Partygate.
Scotland Yard is investigating lockdown breaches and has already issued 50 fines, including to the PM, his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
Mr Johnson is thought to have been at six of the 12 possible rule-breaking events being considered by Operation Hillman officers
Downing Street is braced for more fines in the weeks ahead.
However, the PM received a small boost when Scotland Yard announced it would not issue any more Partygate updates until after the local elections on May 5.
A Met spokesman said: "While the investigation will continue during the pre-election period, due to the restrictions around communicating before the May local elections we will not provide further updates until after 5 May."
