Boris on brink: Brady ‘already has’ 54 letters as Tory leadership race may begin NEXT WEEK

Boris Johnson: Tory MP quizzed on possible alternative to PM

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This means that a Tory leadership race could be triggered as soon as next week. A total of 54 letters of no confidence must be submitted to Sir Graham, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, in order to trigger a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister. If he fails to win the support of a majority of MPs in this vote, then he will be forced to resign.

According to a Sunday newspaper report, some Tory rebels are speculating that Sir Graham may have as many as 67 letters.

However, he is thought to be waiting until after the Queen’s Jubilee to inform Mr Johnson.

One former cabinet minister claimed that there is an “80 percent chance” of a leadership challenge after the two by-elections taking place in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton later this month.

But it could be more than 50 percent likely to occur even before the by-elections, which will see people go to the polls on 23 June.

He told the Sunday Times: “It’s 55 percent that it happens on Monday or Tuesday.

“It’s 80 percent there’s a vote after the two by-elections.”

A poll of Wakefield voters predicted a crushing defeat for Mr Johnson, showing the Conservatives could lose the election by as much as 20 points.

The poll, conducted by JL Partners, put Labour on 48 percent and the Tories on 28 percent.

The Wakefield by-election was triggered after disgraced Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan was found guilty of sexual assault.

James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners, said the Conservative Party is “behind Labour in every age group apart from the over-65s”.

He claimed the main reason Wakefield voters have abandoned the Tories is that the Prime Minister “tried to cover-up Partygate, and lied to the public”.

The worrying predictions come as Mr Johnson faces increasing pressure to resign over the Partygate scandal.

However, even if Mr Johnson is faced with a vote of no confidence, he is expected to survive as 180 Tory MPs would be required to vote him out.

But Tory rebels have threatened to refuse to back the Government on legislation if he survives the vote with anything other than a convincing win, leaving Mr Johnson unable to govern.

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In 2018, when Theresa May survived a vote of no-confidence with 63 percent support, she resigned just months later.

The chaos comes after senior civil servant Sue Gray published her report on parties in Downing Street during lockdown last month.

The inquiry provided details of 16 events which took place between May 2020 and April 2021, twelve of which were also investigated by the police, finding that many of the events “should not have been allowed to happen”.

The 37-page-document outlined instances where Downing Street staff vomited from “excessive alcohol consumption”, spilt wine on the walls and some officials even got into “a minor altercation” during the rule-breaking parties, some of which lasted until 4am.

It also detailed instances where security and cleaning staff were treated poorly.

Ms Gray’s investigation was launched following media reports of rule-breaking gatherings in Downing Street.

An initial report was delivered in January, but she delayed publication of the full version while the Metropolitan Police conducted its own investigation into events.

The Met Police has issued 126 fines for rule-breaking in No10 and Whitehall.

Boris Johnson was issued just one fine for his birthday party in March 2020.

Speaking about the events detailed in Ms Gray’s report, Mr Johnson said he takes “full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch”.

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