Boris Johnson has insisted he wasn’t told it was against the rules for him to attend a gathering in the garden of No 10 during lockdown – but did not rule out resigning if he was shown to have misled parliament.
Pressure mounted on the prime minister as a seventh Tory MP confirmed he had submitted a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson, with others indicating they may not wait for the report into the party scandal by Sue Gray to follow suit.
“No matter what Sue Gray decides, I think the voters have already decided,” said one.
Appearing in public for the first time since former aide Dominic Cummings claimed the PM was told the event was not work-related, Mr Johnson cut a downcast figure.
He hung his head and sighed heavily as he publically apologised to the Queen for a separate leaving party held in No 10 on the eve of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.
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Confirming that he will give evidence to the Gray inquiry, Mr Cummings denounced Mr Johnson’s defence as “catastrophic”, telling him via social media: “The more media you do defending yourself the more you destroy your own support and hasten the inevitable.”
Deputy prime minister Dominic Raab confirmed that a minister who “knowingly” misled the House of Commons would normally be expected to resign – a position which Downing Street said was supported by Mr Johnson.
Despite the PM’s categorical denial, an exclusive poll for The Independent found that almost two-thirds of voters (65 per cent) and more than half (54 per cent) of Conservative supporters do not believe the PM’s claim he thought the 20 May 2020 drinks in the Downing Street garden was a “work event”.
An overwhelming 80 per cent of those questioned by Savanta ComRes – including 73 per cent of those who voted Tory in 2019 – agreed that under Johnson there was “one rule for the government and another for everybody else”.
And almost three-quarters (73 per cent) – including 60 per cent of Conservative voters – said they were angry about the reports of repeated drinks parties in No 10.
Following a meeting of members of the 2019 intake of younger MPs, some suggested that a further flurry of letters could go on Wednesday to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, who needs 54 to trigger a vote of no confidence.
Bury South’s Tory MP Christian Wakeford revealed he has submitted a letter of no confidence to the PM, telling Yahoo News there were other MPs who “have written the letters but haven’t sent them in yet”.
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UK news in pictures 18 January 2022 Surfers enter the sea as the sun rises over Tynemouth on the North East coast
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UK news in pictures 17 January 2022 Bonhams’ Danny McIlwraith holds a Nigerian polycrome carved wood mask during a photocall for the sale of the Jim Lennon Collection at Bonhams in Edinburgh
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UK news in pictures 16 January 2022 The moon rises above the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, Hampshire
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UK news in pictures 15 January 2022 Demonstrators outside Downing Street during a ‘Kill The Bill’ protest against The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill in London
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UK news in pictures 14 January 2022 Ecologist Emma Smart (left) and retired GP Dr Diana Warner outside HMP Bronzefield, in Surrey, following their release from the prison where Emma undertook a 26-day hunger strike during her incarceration. Ms Smart was sentenced in November, along with other members of Insulate Britain, to serve four months for breaking a High Court injunction by taking part in a blockade at junction 25 of the M25 motorway during the morning rush hour on 8 October last year
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UK news in pictures 13 January 2022 A TV presenter holds a copy of a newspaper outside 10 Downing Streetafter the Prime Minister apologised for attending a gathering of colleagues in the Number Ten garden in May 2020, while the UK was in strict lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic
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UK news in pictures 12 January 2022 Fitness guru Derrick Evans after receiving an MBE during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle
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UK news in pictures 11 January 2022 A couple walk underneath an umbrella during wet weather on Westminster Bridge in central London
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UK news in pictures 10 January 2022 A jogger passes the Covid Memorial Wall in London
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UK news in pictures 9 January 2021 The sun rises over horses at Seaton Sluice in Northumberland
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UK news in pictures 8 January 2022 Riders compete during the Veterans Men's race at the UK Cyclo-Cross National Championships 2022 in Ardingly, south of London
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UK news in pictures 7 January 2022 A dog looks out of a car window at the wintry conditions in Killeshin, Co. Laois
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UK news in pictures 6 January 2022 People walk through frost and mist alongside a frozen lake during sunrise in Bushy Park, London
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UK news in pictures 5 January 2022 A skier jumps on the slopes at Allenheads in the Pennines to the north of Weardale in Northumberland
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UK news in pictures 4 January 2022 Freshly-fallen snow covers houses in Corbridge, near Hexham in Northumberland
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UK news in pictures 3 January 2022 Dean Morrison, 13, receives his Covid-19 vaccine from student nurse Anthony McLaughlin during a vaccination clinic at the Glasgow Central Mosque
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UK news in pictures 2 January 2022 Konastantinos Tsimikas of Liverpool with Chelsea’s Mason Mount during the Premier League match at Stamfrod Bridge
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UK news in pictures 1 January 2022 New Year’s Eve Lasers, drones and fireworks illuminate the sky in front of the Royal Naval College in Greenwich shortly after midnight in London
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UK news in pictures 30 December 2021 Sunrise at Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland
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UK news in pictures 29 December 2021 The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, looks at Becket, a six month old red-billed chough as he visits Wildwood Wildlife Park in Kent on the anniversary of the murder of Thomas Becket
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UK news in pictures 28 December 2021 Troops of the Household Cavalry are seen reflected in a puddle during the changing of the Queen’s Life Guard, on Horse Guards Parade, in central London
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UK news in pictures 27 December 2021 A pedestrian walks past a winter sale sign outside a John Lewis store on Oxford street in London
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UK news in pictures 26 December 2021 Riders take their bikes through the snow near Castleside, County Durham
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UK news in pictures 25 December 2021 Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip
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UK news in pictures 24 December 2021 People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London
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UK news in pictures 23 December 2021 Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester
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UK news in pictures 22 December 2021 The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge.
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UK news in pictures 21 December 2021 People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year
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UK news in pictures 20 December 2021 An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton
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UK news in pictures 19 December 2021 Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux
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UK news in pictures 18 December 2021 Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent
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UK news in pictures 17 December 2021 Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts 'Boris' bubble' held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election
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UK news in pictures 16 December 2021 Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire
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UK news in pictures 15 December 2021 Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle
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UK news in pictures 14 December 2021 The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool
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UK news in pictures 13 December 2021 People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas's Hospital in Westminster
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UK news in pictures 12 December 2021 People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds
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UK news in pictures 11 December 2021 People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds,
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UK news in pictures 10 December 2021 Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judge’s decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
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UK news in pictures 9 December 2021 Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service
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UK news in pictures 8 December 2021 Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine
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UK news in pictures 7 December 2021 Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow
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UK news in pictures 6 December 2021 A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra
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UK news in pictures 5 December 2021 People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin's former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother
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UK news in pictures 4 December 2021 People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square
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UK news in pictures 3 December 2021 A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London
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UK news in pictures 2 December 2021 Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum
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UK news in pictures 1 December 2021 Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar
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UK news in pictures 30 November 2021 Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week
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Another member of the 2019 intake, Mark Logan of Bolton North East – who was not at the meeting and has not submitted a letter – told The Independent: “My constituents and myself are unconvinced, and the prime minister really does have to dig deep and show he is prepared to change the culture at the top.
“I don’t really care about Sue Gray’s report, It’s not about waiting for a report, it’s about someone being willing to change personally, not just change personnel.”
Mid-Derbyshire MP Pauline Latham said that it was not acceptable for the prime minister to break rules he had set himself.
“At the end of the day, he made the rules,” Ms Latham told Times Radio. “He was in that briefing room looking at the cameras, saying ‘This is what you have to do’. So you can’t say he didn’t know what the rules were.
“If the truth is that he did mislead parliament, you just can’t do that. Parliament is sacrosanct, we have to tell the truth in parliament, it is such an important principle that we should all adhere to"
Speaking during a hospital visit in London, Mr Johnson repeated his claim that when he spent 25 minutes with staff eating picnic food and drinking alcohol around trestle tables in the No 10 garden, he had been attending a work event.
“I carry full responsibility for what took place,” said the prime minister. “But nobody told me – I’m absolutely categorical – nobody said to me this is an event that is against the rules.”
He added: “I do humbly apologise to people for misjudgments that were made but that is the very, very best of my recollection about this event, that’s what I’ve said to the inquiry.”
Asked if he would resign if it was found he had misled parliament Mr Johnson said he would “wait and see what the report says”.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he believed Mr Johnson’s account, but asked whether the PM would have to resign if he was shown to have lied to parliament, he replied: “The ministerial code is clear on these matters.”
He removed his microphone and walked out of a TV interview when he was pressed on whether he supported the prime minister unequivocally.
Tuesday’s poll suggested that Mr Sunak would be Tory voters’ choice as leader if Mr Johnson is forced out.
Some 51 per cent of those who backed the party in 2019 said they would be more likely to vote Conservative with Sunak at the helm, compared to 23 per cent for his main rival, foreign secretary Liz Truss.
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If health secretary Sajid Javid was leader, 29 per cent of Tory voters said they would be more likely to back the party again, while the figure for former health secretary Jeremy Hunt and home secretary Priti Patel was 21 per cent.
Savanta ComRes interviewed 2,166 British adults on 15-16 January