Beleaguered Boris Johnson has sent a defiant “bring it on” message to rebel Tory MPs trying to topple him in a confidence vote.
The desperate PM has calculated that an early vote is now the only way to save his premiership.
Mr Johnson was holed up in his Chequers country retreat yesterday fighting on all fronts as
- ANOTHER MP told him he has to go.
- WIFE Carrie was rubbished in a bombshell book.
- REPLACEMENT No10 staff proved hard to find.
- NADINE Dorries made his position worse in a series of car crash interviews.
Former Schools minister Nick Gibb became the 14th Tory MP to publicly admit to sending in a letter demanding a no confidence vote.
It came just hours after Red Wall MP Aaron Bell also said Mr Johnson must quit.
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries provoked derision when she tried to defend the PM on yesterday’s ministerial media round.
She said: “What Nick has done is very disappointing.
“But this is an absolute minority in the Conservative Party because Boris Johnson delivers.”
Another former minister, Stephen Hammond, also said he is “considering very carefully” whether he still has confidence in the PM.
Sources now believe backbench shop steward Sir Graham Brady is only a few letters short of the 54 needed to call the crucial vote.
The PM believes the sooner that comes the better chance he has of reaching the 181 majority he needs to cling to power. Under Tory rules that means he could not be challenged for another 12 months.
A Whitehall source said: “The vote is 100 per cent coming. But privately the PM would welcome it and the earlier the better.”
But more experienced MPs are urging colleagues to stop the letters until Whitehall enforcer Sue Gray’s report into lockdown parties is published in full and the Met police produce the results of their investigation.
A picture of Mr Johnson holding a beer during his 56th birthday party at No10 on 19th June 2020 taken by his taxpayer funded photographer is now believed to be among 300 police are looking at.
One rebel MP said: “Trouble is if we have the vote now we will lose it and be stuck with him. Only Gray and the Met can swing this.”
Mr Johnson is now bracing himself to have his marriage ripped apart in a devastating biography of Carrie by Tory peer Michael Ashcroft.
Lord Ashcroft says it is her meddling which is preventing Mr Johnson from governing effectively and suggests the marriage is far from happy.
The book being serialised this weekend quotes the PM as telling aides: “Don’t do anything that’s going to make her torture me when I get home.
“You’ve just got to help me. My life at home’s miserable. You’ve got to find a way to make this bearable for me.”
But a spokesperson for Carrie said: “Yet again Mrs Johnson has been targeted by a brutal briefing campaign against her by enemies of her husband.
“This is just the latest attempt by bitter ex-officials to discredit her. She is a private individual who plays no role in government.”
Meanwhile, the PM was trying to fill four of the five posts in No10 created by the mass exodus of key staff last week.
His bitterest loss was that of Downing Street policy chief Munira Mirza, his closest aide over the last 14 years.
She quit over Mr Johnson’s failure to apologise for the slur against Sir Keir Starmer. The PM smeared the Labour leader by falsely claiming he was personally responsible for failing to prosecute child abuser Sir Jimmy Saville.
She has been replaced by Tory MP Andrew Griffith, a former Sky TV boss who lent Mr Johnson his lavish Westminster townhouse to plot the PM’s first 100 days in power.
One senior Tory said: “Being an MP is meant to be a full time job.
“He can either serve his Arundel and South Downs constituents or run the country. He can’t do both.”
But other positions are proving harder to fill. Mr Johnson also lost his chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, his principal private secretary Martin Reynolds and his communications director Jack Doyle.
Former Tory aide Jo-Anne Nadler told GB News she was “toying” with whether to join the PM as an adviser.
But she added: “It really doesn’t look good for him. There is a sense people are deserting a sinking ship.”
And a No10 insider said: “I’m going to turn the lights out when I leave the office tonight as by then I might be the only person left.”
Mr Johnson last night found two people who are prepared to work for him.
Cabinet office supremo Steve Barclay is being drafted in as the new No10 chief of staff while TV journalist Guto Harri becomes the PM’s top spin doctor.
Mr Harri worked with Mr Johnson as chief of staff when he was London Mayor and in July last year was suspended and later quit GBNews for taking the knee on air.
But the PM has yet to find anyone to take on the role of Downing Street’s new Permanent Secretary.
Mr Johnson said: “The changes to my senior team will improve how No 10 operates.”
Reports in Australia said Mr Johnson has turned down an invitation by PM Scott Morrison to visit because he is so busy with partygate.
An Australian government spokesman said: “The travel plans for another leader are a matter for that leader to disclose, not us.”
And No10 said: “We will confirm prime ministerial visits in the usual way.”
