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Tory MPs were forced to deny being about to defect to Labour today as Boris Johnson claimed the revolt is over – despite renewed calls for the Cabinet to stage a coup.
Red Wall MP Dehenna Davison and former minister Caroline Nokes tweeted to insist they are not planning to jump ship after fevered rumours swept Westminster again.
‘For the avoidance of doubt – again – I’m not bloody defecting,’ Ms Davison said.
The PM is busy burnishing his statesman credentials at the G7 summit in Bavaria, where leaders are discussing ways to help thwart Vladimir Putin.
Asked if he was worried about Westminster plotting while he is out of the UK, he told reporters at the G7 summit in Germany: ‘No. We settled that a couple of weeks ago.’
Environment Secretary George Eustice insisted in a round of interviews this morning that the Cabinet remains united behind Mr Johnson, despite the dramatic resignation by Tory chair Oliver Dowden on Friday.
But the Conservative mood at home is still seething after the party’s meltdown in Tiverton and Wakefield – and the premier’s suggestion over the weekend that he wants to stay in No10 for another decade has done little to help.
William Wragg, the Tory chairman of the Commons Public Administration Committee, told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour his own seat – and those of colleagues ‘with majorities much larger than mine’ – are under threat while Mr Johnson remains as PM.
Boris Johnson (pictured with Charles Michel today) is busy burnishing his statesman credentials at the G7 summit in Bavaria, where leaders are discussing ways to help thwart Vladimir Putin
Red Wall MP Dehenna Davison and former minister Caroline Nokes tweeted to deny they were planning to jump ship
‘For the avoidance of doubt – again – I’m not bloody defecting,’ Ms Davison said (pictured with Mr Johnson)
Boris Johnson and G7 leaders listen to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky by video-link in Germany today
Ex-minister Damian Green, who chairs the One Nation caucus of Tory MPs, said the government needed to change its ‘style and content’.
But Mr Wragge rejected the idea that the Tories should change rules that prevent Mr Johnson being subject to another no confidence vote before next June.
‘I don’t think it is desirable that the 1922 Committee should tinker with the rules although it did previously in recent history at the end of end of Mrs May’s Government,’ he said.
Former Cabinet minister David Davis also dismissed the prospect of changing the 1922 rules.
‘Do you want a leader, whoever it is, looking over his shoulder every month at this tax increase or whatever?’ he told the BBC.
‘So no, I don’t want the rules changed. I don’t think they will change either so he has got to use the year he has to prove to us that actually he can deliver on the promises we gave at the 2019 election which was low tax.’
Ex-minister Damian Green, who chairs the One Nation caucus of Tory MPs, said the government needed to change its ‘style and content’.
‘The way for this to be brought to a head would be for one or more members of the Cabinet to take a decision to say, ‘look, we can’t we can’t carry on like this’,’ he told Channel 4 News.
However, asked whether Mr Johnson would still be in charge for Tory conference in October he said: ‘Probably – we live in a fast moving and much changing world, but I think probably.’
The premier seems to have abandoned the idea of holding a reshuffle imminently, in a sign of his wobbling authority.
Instead government is pushing forward on policies as it tries to get back on the front foot.
The Northern Ireland Bill is set for its second reading in the Commons tonight.
An announcement on extending steel tariffs on foreign imports is also expected in the coming days, which ministers hope will please Red Wall voters.
Mr Johnson was up early for a swim in the Ferchensee lake this morning, near the Schloss Elmau hotel where G7 leaders are meeting, and will use today’s sessions to press for more support for Kyiv.
Mr Johnson told journalists afterwards: ‘What I’m focused on, and what we’re doing is getting on with, number one, all the stuff we’re doing to help people with the cost of living in the short term, using the fiscal firepower we have, with £1,200 for eight million of the most vulnerable households, £400 to help everybody, £300 for pensioners, cutting council tax – all the things that we’re doing in cash terms to help people through the current inflationary spike in the cost of, particularly, energy.
‘But also getting on with the agenda for our plan for a stronger economy, reforming our supply side in energy, transport, housing, all the things that matter to people.
‘And then the general government agenda, levelling up the country and delivering on our programme.’
Mr Johnson has insisted the ‘golden rule’ is to ‘focus on what we are doing’ after raising eyebrows by revealing he has ambitions to remain in office into the 2030s.
He admitted yesterday he has not ‘had time’ to reflect on the biggest regret of his premiership so far, claiming the Government’s achievements have been ‘remarkable’.
But while he may feel at home among leaders abroad, his premiership back in the UK is far from watertight.
The Conservative Party leader is facing pressure from across the political divide following the double by-election defeat in Wakefield, and Tiverton and Honiton, further fuelled by the shock resignation of a Cabinet minister.
Oliver Dowden stood down as Tory co-chairman in the wake of the losses early on Friday morning, saying he and Conservative supporters were ‘distressed and disappointed by recent events’, and telling Mr Johnson that ‘someone must take responsibility’.
There have also been signs that a fresh wave of no-confidence letters are going in after his suggestion of serving three terms went down badly with critics.
It comes amid suggestions of a move to change the rules of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs in order to allow another vote of confidence in Mr Johnson within the next year.
The PM said over the weekend during a trip to Rwanda that he is ‘thinking actively’ about fighting the next two general elections to become the longest-serving post-war leader.
Asked at the G7 summit in Germany on Sunday if his ambitions were delusional, Mr Johnson said: ‘What I’m saying is this is a Government that is getting on with delivering for the people of this country and we’ve got a huge amount to do.’
He said the ‘golden rule’ is to ‘focus on what we are doing’ – to address the cost of living, the ‘massive’ plan for a stronger economy, and ‘making sure that the UK continues to offer the kind of leadership around the world that I know our people want’.
Nerves have been further jangled by persistent rumours that six MPs are considering defecting to Keir Starmer’s (inset left) Labour
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