Boris Johnson is facing a growing revolt
as Conservative MPs elected in 2019
openly plot to remove him from office
over No 10 lockdown parties.
More than 20 Tories who won their
seats at the last general election met
yesterday to discuss their concerns
about Johnson’s leadership as the party
was gripped by infighting.
A number are preparing to submit
letters of no confidence this afternoon
after prime minister’s questions.
Johnson was holding meetings last
night with groups of the 2019 intake of
MPs, including one who published a
poll on his future on Facebook. Tory
whips are concerned that the number
of letters of no confidence could exceed
the threshold of 54 needed to trigger a
leadership election. They said that
when they confronted the MPs they
were open about their plan. “They
didn’t even try to hide it,” one said.
The rebels’ meeting — dubbed the
“pork pie putsch” because one repre-
sents the constituency containing
Melton Mowbray — took place shortly
after the prime minister denied that he
was warned about a party in the No 10
garden on May 20, 2020, during the first
lockdown.
Anger within the party is widespread.
An analysis by The Times of Conserva-
tive MPs’ Facebook pages, websites and
emails to constituents found instances
of 58 criticising Johnson or his opera-
tion since his initial apology last week.
Among the group are five select com-
mittee chairmen and 16 former minis-
ters, spanning all wings of the party.
Christian Wakeford, the MP for Bury
South, yesterday became the seventh to
admit submitting a letter of no confi-
dence. He said that several colleagues
had written their own letters and were
considering sending them.
The prime minister was defended by
his allies. Nadine Dorries, the culture
secretary, told The Times: “The people
who are doing this are being disloyal to
the prime minister, the party, their con-
stituents and the wider country. They
should judge the prime minister on his
record of achievement. We have more
people boosted, tested and more anti-
virals than any country in the EU. We
have the most open and fastest growing
economy in the G7. He has led us out of
a global pandemic to the other side. Wehave a responsibility to govern in a way
that is stable and secure.” A cabinet
source said: “It’s pretty sickening. They
were only elected because of him. Most
of them are a load of nobodies. It’s nuts.”
In other developments:
6 Dominic Cummings, the prime min-
ister’s former adviser, confirmed that
he would give evidence to Sue Gray, aSteven Swinford Political Editor
Henry Zeffman
Chief Political Correspondent
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Continued on page 2, col 3End of Covid
restrictions
... but not
facemasks
Chris Smyth Whitehall EditorBoris Johnson will declare the end of
coronavirus restrictions today as offi-
cials step up plans for post-pandemic
Britain.
Local Covid testing centres will start
to be shut down from the spring as part
of the long-term strategy for living with
the virus.
Working-from-home guidance and
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day to “substantially reduce restric-
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the Omicron wave recedes. The
planning is being co-ordinated by the
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Some sources have pencilled in the
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The plans are at an early stage but are
expected to include dates for the end of
compulsory isolation for people who
test positive for Covid and the end of
free lateral flow tests.
Officials are also examining scaling
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mega-labs and thousands of local test
centres, which mean the average per-
son in England travels two and a half
miles for a test. There is acceptance
among ministers that this cannot be
sustained over the long term, with test-
ing costing about £10 billion a year and
budgets for the coming months not
Continued on page 2, col 5Red wall Tory MPs team
up to topple Johnson
PM seeks to head off rebellion as whips concede no-confidence threshold may soon be reached
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