Led by Donkeys video chronicles the times Boris Johnson told people to ‘follow the rules’
Andrea Leadsom has become the latest Tory MP to turn on Boris Johnson amid the fallout from Sue Gray’s damning report into Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street.
The former business secretary and ally of the prime minister said he resided over “unacceptable failings in leadership” adding it was now time for Conservative MPs to decide on the “right course of action” to restore trust in the government.
Her comments come as William Hague warned that Boris Johnson could face a no-confidence vote “next week.”
Speaking to Times Radio, the former Tory leader said that Sue Gray’s Partygate report has been a “slow-fuse explosion” for Boris Johnson.
“I think the Conservative Party will need to resolve this one way or another, obviously because to be an effective party they either need to rally behind the prime minister they’ve got, or they need to decide to force him out and I think they’re moving towards either next week or around the end of June.”
Another Tory MP says he has submitted no confidence letter
John Stevenson has become the latest of at least 29 Tory MPs to call on Boris Johnson to resign, and indicated that he had submitted a letter of no confidence to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady.
The Carlisle MP said he had been “deeply disappointed” by the events in No 10 and suggested Mr Johnson should put himself forward for a confidence vote.
However, he added: “The prime minister appears unwilling to bring matters to a head and submit himself to such a vote. Therefore, the only option is for the Conservative MPs to facilitate a vote of confidence. I’ve already taken the appropriate action.”
Andy Gregory31 May 2022 13:27
Autumn will be ‘last chance’ for Tory MPs to oust Boris Johnson, David Davis says
David Davis has said he still believes Boris Johnson will no longer be prime minister by autumn.
“The problems keep coming. There’s a pipeline of them, there are others to come down the road,” the former Brexit minister told Tortoise, citing inquiries into the procurement of PPE, Mr Johnson’s dealings as London mayor, and the privileges committee’s probe into whether he deliberately misled parliament.
“The thing is, every time you see these headlines of ‘a flood of letters’ going in, a flood is two to three to four, it’s not 20 to 30, so they will gradually build up,” Mr Davis said.
“The reason I said autumn is because it’s the last chance. Lots of members of the party will do sets of calculations – I’m afraid this is very cynical but it’s the way it works – they’ll do lots of calculations about their own seats, about their prospects of staying in government.
“And if in the autumn it still looks bleak, and it will I think – not so much care of Boris, as care of other aspects of policy – then they’ll realise that’s their last chance because next year he could call an election at short notice.”
Andy Gregory31 May 2022 13:22
Government ‘to pause civil service fast-track graduate scheme’
Here’s more detail on Boris Johnson’s plans to shrink the civil service.
According to The Telegraph, the civil service fast stream graduate recruitment programme for “future leaders” is to be paused for at least a year, in a decision signed off at a Cabinet Office board meeting on 19 May.
A line of the meeting’s minutes was reportedly leaked to the paper, and says: “The chair confirmed that the Prime Minister had decided the fast stream would be paused for at least a year.”
The scheme will reportedly be paused in 2023, leaving current successful applicants unaffected.
Labour criticised the move as an “ill-thought-through and self-defeating decision”, while a former Cabinet minister said it is “very foolish”.
Andy Gregory31 May 2022 12:51
Boris Johnson writes to civil servants…
Read More: Boris Johnson latest news: Hague says PM ‘in real trouble’ as Tory revolt grows