Boris Johnson defied calls last night for his resignation over lockdown parties in Downing Street as the Tories fell to their lowest poll rating against Labour in almost a decade.
The prime minister apologised to the public for the “rage they feel” over the allegations as he admitted attending an event in the No 10 garden in May 2020.
He said he believed it was a work event and that he had not seen an invitation from his principal private secretary for 100 staff to bring their own alcohol to “socially distanced drinks”.
Tory MPs said he later told them in the Commons tea room that he did not believe he had personally done anything wrong and said that “we’re taking hits for something we don’t deserve”.
Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, called on Johnson to quit because his position was “no longer tenable”. He said Johnson told him that he did not feel personally responsible.
“I don’t think he can continue as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister, asking people to follow the rules and guidance of his government, when I don’t believe he did,” he said. Ross said he would write to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers to call for Johnson’s resignation.
Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg last night fought back against Ross, calling him “a lightweight figure”.
During a series of interviews Rees-Mogg sought to disparage Ross’s standing in the Conservative Party arguing that the MP for Moray had been a long-time Johnson critic.
To an audible gasp from the BBC Newsnight presenter, Rees-Mogg said: “The Secretary of State for Scotland [Alister Jack], who is a big figure, is very supportive of the prime minister and has made that clear. Douglas Ross has always been quite a lightweight figure.”
Rees-Mogg was responding to a report by Newsnight that they had been told by a “very senior Scottish MSP [Member of the Scottish parliament]” that all 31 Conservative representatives have said they want Johnson to resign. The leader of the House said if MSPs believed this they should say so publicly.
Several other Tory MPs also called on him to quit, including William Wragg, a senior member of the 1922 Committee, who described his position as “indefensible”.
Johnson, however, is said to be determined to stay. “He’s not going to resign, he’s a fighter,” one ally said. “He has more fight in him than the vast majority of people. He’s frustrated that he’s in this position. He’s a force of nature. If there’s a single person who can charge through all of this it will be him. Never underprice that.”
Most Tory MPs kept their counsel before the publication of a report by Sue Gray, the senior official that Johnson has commissioned to investigate claims of parties in Downing Street. It is expected at the end of next week.
A YouGov poll for The Times, conducted before Johnson’s apology, found that six in ten voters believed that Johnson should resign, including 38 per cent of those who voted Tory at the last election. It found that 78 per cent of the public did not believe that the prime minister had been honest in his answers to questions about the alleged parties. This included 63 per cent of Conservative voters. Johnson’s approval ratings are at their lowest level yet. The Tories have fallen ten points behind Labour, the biggest gap since December 2013.
Cabinet ministers lined up to defend the prime minister. However, for much of the day neither Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, nor Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, who are both seen as potential leadership rivals, sent public messages of support. Sunak was on a visit to Devon. Truss was sitting at Johnson’s side at prime minister’s questions but did not immediately state her support. One cabinet minister accused them of “obvious game-playing”.
In a tweet that some noted showed less than wholehearted backing for Johnson, Sunak wrote at 8.20pm: “The PM was right to apologise and I support his request for patience while Sue Gray carries out her inquiry.”
Truss eventually tweeted at 9.14pm: “I stand behind the prime minister 100% as he takes our country forward.”
Johnson apologised in the Commons after days of refusing to comment. He said at prime minister’s questions: “I want to apologise. I know that millions of people have made extraordinary sacrifices in the last 18 months. I know the rage they feel with me and with the government I lead when they think that in No 10 rules are not being followed.”
He said that he “believed implicitly” that it was a work-related event. Carrie Symonds, then his fiancée, was also said to have attended. He said that he regretted not breaking up the gathering and “sending everyone back inside”.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, called on him to resign, saying that he had not only breached coronavirus rules but misled parliament.
“We’ve got the prime minister attending Downing Street parties — a clear breach of the rules. We’ve got the prime minister putting forward a series of ridiculous denials which he knows are untrue — a clear breach of the ministerial code,” he said. “That code says ministers who knowingly mislead parliament will be expected to offer their resignation. The party’s over, prime minister. The only question is will the British public kick him out, will his party kick him out or will he do the decent thing and resign?”
After what was described as a “tense” 15-minute call with Johnson yesterday, Ross, the Scottish Tory leader, said that there was “significant unrest and concern” at Westminster and Holyrood about the prime minister’s presence at the event and that he could no longer support him. Ross added: “I don’t think he can continue as leader of the Conservative Party and prime minister, asking people to follow the rules and guidance of his government, when I don’t believe he did.”
Sources said that Ross had made his statement after Johnson failed to guarantee that no more revelations would emerge.
Caroline Nokes, the former minister and chairwoman of the women and equalities committee, added her voice to Conservative MPs calling on Johnson to resign, arguing that the prime minister had “put himself in an impossible position”.
She said that Johnson was “damaging the entire Conservative brand” and was increasingly looking like a “liability” to the party.
Speaking to the ITV Peston programme she said: “I think he either goes now, or he goes in three years’ time at a general election, and it’s up to the party to decide which way around that’s going to be. I know my thoughts are is that he’s damaging us now.”
Wragg, chairman of the public administration committee, told BBC Radio 4’s PM that it would be “preferable” for Johnson to resign because MPs were “tired” and “frankly worn out of defending what is invariably indefensible”.
Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, said that Johnson had taken “full responsibility” for the party. Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary, said: “Nadine is right.”
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said he had done the “right thing” and Priti Patel, the home secretary, urged Tory MPs to “back Boris”. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons leader, told Times Radio that those calling for Johnson to resign were “people who are always unhappy”.
