London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a crunch Conservative Party confidence vote later Monday after dozens of his Tory MPs triggered a contest following a string of scandals that have shattered confidence in his leadership.
The beleaguered leader has spent months battling to maintain his grip on power after the so-called "Partygate" controversy saw him become the first serving UK prime minister found to have broken the law.
If he loses, he must step down as Conservative party leader and prime minister.
A scathing internal probe into "Partygate" said last month that he had presided over a culture of Covid lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street that ran late into the night and featured a drunken fight among staff.
Brexit-architect Johnson, who won a landslide election victory in December 2019, has steadfastly refused to resign.
The 57-year-old has said he takes responsibility for the saga and pointed to a reorganisation of the structure inside No 10 while insisting he must remain in charge.
A Downing Street spokesperson said Johnson "welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs" and Monday's vote was "a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on".
The Tory leader is expected to address his MPs before the vote and will reportedly also pen a letter to them.
Threshold triggered
Earlier Graham Brady, who heads the backbench committee of Conservatives which oversees party leadership challenges, confirmed the threshold of 54 Tory lawmakers seeking a confidence vote -- or 15 percent of MPs -- had been met.
He said the ballot would be held between 6pm and 8pm (1700 and 1900 GMT) Monday, with votes counted immediately and an announcement to follow "at a time to be advised".
Brady told reporters Johnson was informed last night -- as four days of national celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee ended -- that the vote had been triggered.
"We agreed the timetable for the confidence vote...should happen as soon as could reasonably take place, and that would be today," he added.
Brady did not disclose how many no-confidence letters he had received from Conservative MPs, noting some colleagues had post-dated them until after the jubilee celebrations.
Secret ballot
The 359 Tories currently sitting in the Commons will decide Johnson's fate by secret ballot, and if he wins -- half the votes cast plus one -- the embattled leader cannot be challenged again for a year.
However, the party could change its own rules to allow another contest sooner.
If he loses, a leadership contest follows in which he cannot stand.
Speculation has been mounting for months that Johnson would face a challenge, as support for him among Conservatives has waned.
A no-confidence vote loomed earlier this year, as the "Partygate" storm intensified, but the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and Johnson's leading response to it bought him time.
But the end of a police probe into the scandal, which saw dozens of his staff and officials fined for attending illegal gatherings during the pandemic, and the publication of the internal report reignited the controversy.
'Charade'
Tory MP Jesse Norman was the latest to go public with his discontent, posting a withering letter online Monday that he had written to Johnson.
Listing a litany of problems with his tenure, Norman wrote: "For you to prolong this charade by remaining in office not only insults the electorate...it makes a decisive change of government at the next election much more likely."
Meanwhile ex-cabinet member Jeremy Hunt, who lost to Johnson in the last leadership contest in 2019 and is expected to run again if he is deposed, confirmed he would vote against the prime minister.
"Conservative MPs know in our hearts we are not giving the British people the leadership they deserve," Hunt tweeted.
At the same time, another MP John Penrose quit as Johnson's anti-corruption tsar, arguing the Tory leader had breached a code of conduct ministers must abide by.
"That's a resigning matter for me, and it should be for the PM too," he said.
'Stand his corner'
However, cabinet colleagues defended Johnson.
"The Prime Minister has my 100 percent backing in today's vote and I strongly encourage colleagues to support him," Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid told Sky News: "The prime minister will fight and stand his corner with a very, very strong case".
But opinion polls have shown deep public disapproval over "Partygate" and Johnson's handling of it, with large majorities saying he knowingly lied about the scandal and should resign.
The Tories have suffered electoral setbacks under him, including losing traditionally safe seats to the Liberal Democrats in by-elections and hundreds of councillors in May's local elections.
The party is also predicted to lose two more by-elections this month, in southwest and northern England.
