Get Serious To Save Your Skin, Ex-Ministers Warn PM

Former cabinet ministers have warned Boris Johnson he must get serious to save his skin.

- Andrew Woodcock, Kate Devlin

The warning came as ex-attorney general Jeremy Wright became the latest Tory heavyweight to call on the prime minister to quit, and Downing Street failed to deny that Mr Johnson took part in another lockdown gathering in his flat above No 11 to mark his 56th birthday in 2020.

The concern expressed to The Independent by the ex-ministers, who have not called for Mr Johnson to go, is indicative of the uncertainty even among those supportive of the PM over whether he can survive. Mr Wright, who served in the cabinets of David Cameron and Theresa May, said Mr Johnson's continued presence in Downing Street was hindering the process of "restoring faith" in government following the Partygate scandal.

Meanwhile, backbencher Elliot Colburn - MP for hypermarginal Carshalton & Wallington - confirmed he has submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister, while another member of the 2019 intake of younger Tories, Nickie Aiken, urged Mr Johnson to call a confidence vote in himself.

And arch-Eurosceptic Andrew Bridgen, who sent a confidence letter only to withdraw it after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, revealed he has resubmitted it, citing "anger about the culture at No 10 during the lockdown period". With the drip, drip of letters going in to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady showing no sign of abating, the mood on the Tory benches was that the total would inevitably reach the crucial threshold of 54.

Although the number of MPs openly declaring they have sent a letter stands at just 16, at least a dozen more have called on the PM to go. Mr Bridgen said he believes the true tally of letters is "close" to the trigger point of 15 per cent of the 359 Tories in the Commons.