Boris Johnson will not face a confidence vote next week, Dominic Raab has insisted, as the Deputy Prime Minister claimed Tory rebels are not close to triggering a ballot on the PM's leadership.
Mr Raab said he “doubts” the number of letters submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, is as high as 40.
He also said that with 30 Tory MPs having publicly called for the PM to quit, the rebels are still likely to be “pretty far off” hitting the 54-letter threshold.
Lord Hague, the former Conservative leader, yesterday predicted a vote could be triggered as soon as next week.
But when asked during an interview on Sky News this morning if he believes there will be a vote next week, Mr Raab said: “No. I just don’t see… allow me to give you my view. I think the Westminster bubble and village whips this stuff up.”
His comments came after Lord Geidt, the PM's ethics adviser, last night demanded an explanation from Mr Johnson over partygate as he said there were “legitimate” questions about whether he broke the ministerial code.
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Ian Murray, Labour's shadow Scotland secretary, claimed the Government "has been asleep at the wheel" on the issue of travel chaos at airports but he said airlines must also take "a huge amount of responsibility for this”.
He told Sky News: “It is quite clear that the travel industry has been in trouble for some time in terms of trying to recruit staff and we were saying way back last year when restrictions were being lifted and furlough was coming to an end that those industries that were hardest hit and the longest to recover needed more support and didn’t get any and this is the consequence of that.”
The most startling aspect of the Tory rebellion against Boris Johnson’s leadership is how it touches almost every aspect of the parliamentary party, write Ben Riley-Smith and Dominic Penna.
Telegraph analysis of the 30 Conservative MPs who are calling for the Prime Minister to resign – or have publicly admitted putting in a no-confidence letter – shows that reality.
At least one rebel can be found in every election intake in the past four decades, with the exception of the 2017 vote – a sign of how critics are spread across the generations.
The Brexit division, so long the fracture which split the Tory Party, also seems not to be a major factor. The rebels count 17 Leave-supporting MPs and 13 Remainers.
You can read the full analysis of the Tory rebellion here.
A Tory leadership contest would "take at least eight weeks”, a Conservative MP warned this morning as they also suggested there is no clear successor to Boris Johnson.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the treasurer of the 1922 Committee, said during a leadership contest there would be a "complete stasis of leadership of this country at a time when we are in a really serious situation with the cost of living crisis, with potentially rail strikes and so on".
He told the BBC: “And then the other problem is: Who would you have? There will be at least five or six candidates who will put in for the job, I would imagine, eventually the process is designed to produce a winner… but the problem with that is somebody will emerge, there will be a lot of colleagues who haven’t voted for that particular candidate, that candidate will then have the job of reuniting the party, trying to deal with all the problems that the country faces and I think at the moment, for me, we should leave matters as they are.
“But, as I say, the situation is changing on a daily basis.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Tory MP, said he believes a row between Boris Johnson and Lord Geidt, the PM's ethics adviser, will "undoubtedly contribute" to voter anger about the premier's behaviour (you can read the original story here).
He told the BBC: “It will undoubtedly contribute to that. I don’t know what the outcome of that is going to be. Lord Geidt has asked the Prime Minister to make clear whether he has or hasn’t broken the ministerial code and I gather that the Prime Minister has replied and we will have to see where that goes.
“But undoubtedly people will be listening to all of this and just saying that they are not happy with what is happening with the Prime Minister.”
Parliament is currently on its Whitsun recess, with many MPs back in their constituencies. Some people have argued that this is one of the reasons why we have seen a steady stream of MPs making public statements and withdrawing their support from Boris Johnson: MPs are speaking to more of their constituents and responding to what they hear.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Tory MP for the Cotswolds, said he believes the "mood has changed a bit" among voters and MPs will be "listening carefully" to what they are told.
He said: “Well, I think the mood has changed a bit in the country since the publication of the Sue Gray report. MPs will be going round their constituents, they will be listening carefully to what their constituents have to say and then making up their mind whether or not to submit a letter. That is what is happening.”
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a Tory MP and the treasurer of the 1922 Committee, said his colleagues will be thinking about the issue of Boris Johnson's continued leadership of the Conservative Party on a "daily basis".
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “They will each individually be working out whether the Prime Minister is an asset or a liability to the country, to their constituents and to their own chances of reelection and they will be studying this situation on a daily basis to decide whether they wish to put in a letter or not.”
Travel chaos remains ongoing at some of the UK's airports and the Government is firmly blaming the aviation sector.
Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, told Sky News: “There’s clearly been a lack of preparation for that surge back of demand of holidaymakers.
“Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, has been talking to the industry for months now saying that this will come and that you need to make sure you have got your recruitment in place. So I know that there is a bit of finger pointing going on at the moment…”
Asked who is to blame for the disruption at airports, Mr Raab said: “I don’t think the airline operators have done the recruitment that they should have done and taken the advice that the Transport Secretary gave them.”
An early general election is "very unlikely", Dominic Raab said this morning.
The next general election is currently pencilled in for May 2024 but there have been some rumblings in Westminster that the PM could trigger an early ballot.
Asked during an interview on Sky News if there could be an early election, Mr Raab said: "No. I think it is very unlikely. And I think, by the way, when the election comes we will win it.”
Dominic Raab has insisted the atmosphere at the top of the Government is "fine" amid growing pressure on Boris Johnson's leadership.
He told Sky News: "Do you know what, it is fine, and of course there is all the Westminster froth and I am not decrying the importance of the issues at hand.
"But the reality is we have got a load of big issues we are grappling with, less than two years to the next election, I think we can all say, given the time limits."
The "vast majority of MPs" want the Government to "get on with the job” of tackling the cost of living crisis and dealing with other major issues, Dominic Raab claimed this morning.
He added: “My sense is overwhelmingly MPs want us focused on that.”
Andrea Leadsom, the former Cabinet minister, said in a statement published yesterday that she had concluded following the publication of the Sue Gray report that there had been "unacceptable failings of leadership that cannot be tolerated and are the responsibility of the Prime Minister".
Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, insisted this morning that Boris Johnson had already addressed the concerns Ms Leadsom had raised.
He told Times Radio: "I have known Andrea a long time, we came in as MPs, I hold her in high esteem. I think it is clear that she is expressing her frustration, I think we should also be clear she hasn’t put a letter in as far as I understand, she hasn’t said that.
“The most important thing I think is the fact the Prime Minister has addressed all these points, overhauled the No 10 operation for the reasons that Andrea cited amongst those that the PM of his own volition and in response to the interim Sue Gray report made clear.”
One source told The Times that Lord Geidt, Boris Johnson's ethics adviser, was "60/40" in favour of quitting yesterday after he demanded an explanation over partygate and said there were “legitimate” questions about whether the PM broke the ministerial code.
Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, said this morning that he did not know if Lord Geidt had threatened to quit.
He told Times Radio: “I wasn’t privy to the conversation. He has made clear a number of concerns but the Prime Minister has addressed them in his response and in particular made clear, I think the key point is that the explanation that he didn’t believe he had broken the ministerial code because in relation to the single fixed-penalty notice it had been an unintentional breach of the law and inadvertent in the sense that he turned up to the gathering without having realised it would be in breach of the relevant regulations.”
Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, was asked if he is worried about Boris Johnson's future after senior Tory figures like Andrea Leadsom went public in recent days with their criticism of the PM over partygate.
He told Times Radio: “First of all, you said that there were 30 MPs who have been public. There’s of course well over 350-odd Conservative MPs…”
Told that the Tory rebels do not seem to be "far off" hitting the 54-letter threshold for triggering a vote, Mr Raab said: “Well, if you are 30, which is what you have just said, I think you are pretty far off.
“But my point is even then in terms of the support for the PM the overwhelming majority actually have not been public about these kind of criticisms although in fairness I want to say I think I understand the frustrations and the concerns.”
It was suggested to Dominic Raab during an interview on Sky News that as many as 40 Tory MPs may currently want a vote to be held on Boris Johnson's leadership - not too far away from the 54-letter threshold.
Mr Raab said he doubted the number of letters submitted to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee, is as high as 40.
He said: “I don’t know what the numbers are. I don’t think anyone does. I doubt it is that high in terms of letters but the truth is I don’t know.”
Lord Hague, the former Tory leader, yesterday predicted that Boris Johnson could face a vote on his leadership as soon as next week.
But Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, rubbished that prediction this morning.
Asked if he thinks there will be a vote as early as next week, Mr Raab told Sky News: "No. I just don’t see… allow me to give you my view. I think the Westminster bubble and village whips this stuff up.
“I am not saying it is not serious and significant but we dealt with all of those issues, the Prime Minister has dealt with all those issues.”
Good morning and welcome to today's politics live blog.
Pressure continues to mount on Boris Johnson's premiership after the Prime Minister's ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, last night demanded an explanation over partygate as he said there were “legitimate” questions about whether the PM broke the ministerial code (you can read that story here).
Meanwhile, No 10 will be bracing for the steady stream of Tory MPs withdrawing their support from the PM to continue today.
Dominic Raab, the Deputy Prime Minister, has been sent out on the morning media round to try and shore up Mr Johnson's position so let's start by looking at what he has been saying.
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