Rebels Fear Partygate Delay Plays Into Johnson's Hands

Rebel Tory MPs are voicing concern that delays to Sue Gray’s crucial report on Downing Street parties may give Boris Johnson the chance to spin her findings in his favour.

- Andrew Woodcock

They are worried that if she hands her report to No 10 today – when parliament is all but deserted as MPs visit their constituencies – the PM could delay publication to Monday while allies use the intervening time to plant stories in the weekend press putting the best possible gloss on its contents.

One rebel told The Independent: “If they have it in their hands for three days before Boris has to make his statement to the house, there’s no doubt it’ll leak like a sieve and there’ll be an effort to control the narrative and suggest he’s in the clear.”

There is concern among Johnson’s Tory critics that the long drawn-out process of producing the report may be dissipating momentum behind the drive for the 54 letters needed to trigger a confidence vote in his leadership.

The PM was away from Westminster on a visit to north Wales yesterday, forcing a break in the charm offensive which has seen him talking with dozens of wavering MPs in his bid to stave off revolt.

The shadow whipping operation continued in his absence, and allies Christopher Pincher and Conor Burns have set up a WhatsApp group for loyalist MPs to discuss their support for the PM.

This may have backfired, however, with one backbencher revealing that he knew of four participants who had sent the group messages of unswerving fidelity, despite having already submitted confidence letters to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady.