The growing threat of a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson's leadership is a "distraction", a minister admitted this morning, as Tory rebels believe a contest could be triggered as soon as next week.

       Lord Parkinson, the arts minister, said it is "pretty pointless to speculate" about how many letters have been submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, calling for a vote to oust the Prime Minister.

       He said the speculation is a "distraction from the work of government", telling Sky News: “There is an awful lot of speculation about the numbers of letters that go in and past experience shows… the only person that knows how many letters have been sent in is the chairman of the 1922 Committee and it is pretty pointless to speculate about the numbers before then.

       “It is a distraction from the work of government and in government we are getting on with making sure that we grow the economy to help with the cost of living.”

       There has been a steady stream of Tory MPs withdrawing their support from the PM since the publication of Sue Gray's partygate report last week and the rebels believe they may now be closing in on the 54-letter threshold required to trigger a vote.

       One Conservative rebel told The Times that they believed a vote could be triggered "by the end of next week".

       ？？Follow the latest updates below.

       Lord Hague, the former leader of the Conservative Party, said he believes Boris Johnson is in "very serious trouble" and predicted a no confidence vote will take place by the end of June.

       Speaking to Times Radio he said: “I think Boris Johnson is in real trouble. When an MP as reputable, as experienced, as respected as Bob Neill gives that opinion that is very serious trouble for the Prime Minister and I think the Sue Gray report has been one of those sort of slow fuse explosions in politics.

       “It is still going along. A lot of people misread it really, the events of last week, as meaning the trouble is over, Boris is free. That is actually not the mood in the Conservative Party which is very, very troubled about the contents of that report.

       “So I think the Conservative Party will need to resolve this one way or another, obviously, because to be an effective party they either need to rally behind the prime minister they have got or they need to decide to force him out.

       “I think they are moving towards, either next week or around the end of June, they are moving towards having a ballot, it looks like that.”

       Andrea Leadsom, the former Cabinet minister, has reportedly issued a statement to her South Northamptonshire constituents in which she heavily criticised Boris Johnson over partygate - but stopped short of directly calling for him to resign.

       In the statement obtained by The Mirror, Ms Leadsom said: "I am determined to be clear about my views as a matter of personal integrity - the conclusion I have drawn from the Sue Gray report is that there have been unacceptable failings of leadership that cannot be tolerated and are the responsibility of the Prime Minister.

       "Each of my Conservative MP colleagues and I must now decide individually on what is the right course of action that will restore confidence in our government."

       Sir Bob Neill was asked during an interview on Times Radio if he believes Boris Johnson is still an electoral "winner".

       He said: “I don’t believe that that is the case and that certainly wasn’t the position in a borough like mine which has always been Conservative but where we lost 12 seats and lost lots of votes.

       “I don’t think that is the impression we get at the polls. Polls come and go, of course, but you also have to think in the long term charisma, which the Prime Minister has, and energy, which he has shown, isn’t always enough.

       “There has, I think, also to be a sense of seriousness of purpose and of responsibility and I think the British people are going to expect that as we are facing some very tough times over the next couple of years and to do that I think we have to get the tone right. Optimism has its place but also seriousness and self-discipline and restraint has its place too.”

       Sir Bob Neill, the Tory MP, said his decision to submit a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson's leadership was not part of a wider, orchestrated campaign to oust the PM.

       Asked if he had conversations with other MPs with similar concerns, he told Times Radio: “Only in general terms. I have taken this decision on my own account and I am not part of any campaign.

       “But inevitably friends and colleagues might express similar concerns to you but the decision is mine and mine alone.”

       Some 18 Tory MPs have publicly confirmed submitting a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson's leadership while 29 in total have called for the PM to quit.

       Sir Bob Neill, the senior Tory MP, was asked during an interview on Times Radio if he believes the number of letters submitted is higher than the publicly confirmed number.

       He said: “I think history generally shows that not everybody, for perfectly sound reasons, will wish to speak about whether they have sent a letter in.

       “The truth is only Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, knows that and he is always scrupulous about maintaining complete confidentiality until such time as any trigger figure is passed.”

       Sir Bob Neill, the Tory chairman of the Justice Select Committee, announced last week that he had submitted a letter of no confidence in Boris Johnson's leadership.

       Sir Bob told Times Radio this morning that had made the decision because he did not believe the PM's partygate explanation was "credible".

       He said: “I had promised I’d wait until I had seen the whole of the Sue Gray report and all of the explanations that the Prime Minister gave. I looked at them and I didn’t think it was credible that he could escape responsibility for what was not just one off incident but a course of conduct, a repeated culture of breaking the rules in 10 Downing Street over a period of months.

       “On that basis and the feedback I picked up very strongly in my own constituency and the results that we saw there in the local elections… I took the view that it was in the party’s interest and actually the country’s interest for him to move on.”

       Aviation companies "should have been recruiting people" when the pandemic eased in order to be ready for the summer holiday rush, a minister has said.

       Lord Parkinson, the arts minister, told Sky News that current disruption at airports is not acceptable and companies have had "many months" to boost staffing levels.

       He said: “We have been helping people across the whole economy with support for jobs but of course the pandemic hit lots of sectors in lots of different ways. There was a period when people just simply weren’t able to travel for obvious reasons.

       “But there has been many months where we have been back on the track, particularly since the vaccination, to this moment and the industry should have been recruiting people…”

       Holidaymakers have faced widespread delays and queues at UK airports ahead of the bank holiday weekend (you can read the full story here).

       The Government has laid the blame squarely at the door of aviation companies, arguing the industry has failed to recruit enough staff.

       Lord Parkinson, the arts minister, told Sky News: "Colleagues in the Department for Transport are working with the industry, we have been for many months, urging them to make sure they have got enough staff so that thanks to the success of the vaccine rollout as people are able to travel again that people can take the holidays that they have missed and that they have deserved and of course it is causing a lot of stress for people, particularly in half term, people with family and children with them, it is very distressing if you turn up at the airport and your flight isn’t ready.

       “So we have been saying to the industry that they need to prepare for this, they need to have the staff that they need to make sure people can get away and enjoy holidays.”

       Lord Parkinson, the arts minister, was asked how Boris Johnson intends to reassure Tory rebels and win back their support.

       He said: "The Prime Minister has taken responsibility, he has apologised for what went on in No 10, he has made some changes to the operation there so that people can see that a difference is being made and he is redoubling his efforts to focus on the things that matter to people."

       Told that those efforts do not appear to be working in terms of assuaging the concerns of disillusioned Conservative MPs, Lord Parkinson said: "It is for colleagues in the House of Commons to decide what they want to do... but across government everybody is focusing on the things that matter to people."

       Lord Parkinson, the arts minister, was asked what the relief was like when Theresa May won the vote of no confidence that was triggered in her leadership in December 2018. The peer was an adviser to the then-PM.

       He told Sky News: "It allowed us to get back on with the things that mattered then. But we cross those bridges if and when we come to them."

       Told that the Tory rebellion against Boris Johnson appeared to be growing, the minister said: "Only Sir Graham Brady knows how many letters are sent and it is just important that across government we are focusing on the things that matter."

       Lord Parkinson, the arts minister, previously worked as a special adviser to Theresa May when she was prime minister and faced a no confidence vote of her own.

       The peer was asked what it was like in the run up to the vote on Mrs May's future and he told Sky News: "Well, there was an awful lot for the government to be getting on with then, just as there is now, and she focused on it just as the Prime Minister is focusing on the things that matter now, the cost of living, making sure that we are providing the leadership we need in the face of the war in Ukraine.

       "It is pointless speculating about something unless or until it happens."

       Lord Parkinson, the arts minister, is on the morning media round for the Government and he admitted during an interview on Sky News that speculation surrounding Boris Johnson's future is a "distraction".

       He said: “There is an awful lot of speculation about the numbers of letters that go in and past experience shows… the only person that knows how many letters have been sent in is the chairman of the 1922 Committee [Sir Graham Brady] and it is pretty pointless to speculate about the numbers before then.

       “It is a distraction from the work of government and in government we are getting on with making sure that we grow the economy to help with the cost of living.”

       Good morning and welcome to today's politics live blog.

       The steady stream of Tory MPs withdrawing their support from Boris Johnson continued yesterday and Downing Street will be bracing for the trend to carry on today.

       If it does then Mr Johnson's position will grow increasingly precarious as Tory rebels hope to trigger a vote of no confidence potentially as soon as next week.

       I will guide you through the key developments.

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