Boris Johnson has received a scathing public rebuke from his own ethics adviser for exposing the system of ministerial standards to “ridicule” over the Partygate scandal, amid growing pressure from Tory MPs to vote for his future as leader.
Christopher Hyde said there were “legitimate” questions about whether Mr Johnson had violated the ministers’ code of conduct and threatened to leave if the prime minister said there was no answer.
Labor said the dispute showed Mr Johnson’s days were numbered after he “tried to break the rules and evade control”.
But the prime minister insisted he had not violated the code and blamed the “failure of communication” on what Lord Hyde said was his repeated refusal to listen to his advice.
The controversy came as Mr Johnson called potential conservative rebels in a desperate attempt to bolster his position ahead of a vote of no confidence in his leadership, which many Tory MPs expect to be convened when parliament returns next week.
Downing Street has refused to confirm reports that the prime minister plans to restart in the last weeks of the parliamentary year, including a joint speech with Chancellor Rishi Sunak on insurance policy reforms to free up billions of pounds for infrastructure investment. However, a source did not deny that he was calling hesitants, saying: “Apparently he talks to MPs all the time.”
Former Conservative leader William Hague has said the prime minister is in “real trouble” and the party is “moving faster” to leadership ballots that will be triggered if 1922 back-office chairman Sir Graham Brady receives 54 letters from MPs.
Mr Johnson’s former close ally, former Cabinet Minister Andrea Leedsom, has publicly expressed concern about “unacceptable leadership failures that cannot be tolerated”.
And a 17th Tory MP, John Stevenson of Carlisle, said he had sent a letter of no confidence to the prime minister, saying he was “deeply disappointed” by Johnson’s response to the revelations about the 10th blockade party.
He led to 28 lawmakers who publicly called for Mr Johnson to leave, while others argued in private about his removal.
Mr Johnson’s critics, meanwhile, told The Independent they were worried the prime minister would win a no-confidence vote by securing the support of more than half of his lawmakers and then trigger a potentially disastrous snap election. to regain control of his irritated party.
“The parliamentary party is divided by one-third against, one-third loyal and one-third for plunder,” said one. “If he gets less than 63 percent, which Theresa May received in 2018, he will be in real trouble, but I have no doubt that he will try to cling to it.
“I think he can try to invent elections, because that would be the only way to restore his authority.
“He has so much faith in himself and he thinks he has the state on his side, but I think the country will say ‘No, thank you’ and he will throw the Red Wall MPs under the bus.
Ms. May’s former chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, said: “I have a feeling right now that we are heading for a vote of confidence at some point that he can hardly win. If the prime minister seeks to continue in these circumstances (as I suspect he will), that would be the worst outcome for the Conservative Party.
And a supporter of Mr Johnson, Business Minister George Freeman, acknowledged that the prime minister was “in the middle of things” and said he did not know if he would survive a vote of confidence.
In a letter to voters, Ms. Leedsom, who worked closely with Johnson on his failed bid to rescue ousted MP Owen Patterson last year, said Gray’s report revealed “unacceptable leadership shortcomings that cannot be tolerated.” and are the responsibility of the Prime Minister. “
Although she did not call for Mr Johnson’s resignation, Ms Leedsom said that each conservative “must now decide individually what is the right course of action that will restore confidence in our government”.
Her intervention is seen as significant as an indication of discontent that spreads beyond Mr Johnson’s critics of “One Nation” and lawmakers in marginalized areas, worried about its impact on their weak majority.
An MP told The Independent that he knew of several MPs who had written to Sir Graham without revealing it publicly, adding: “We should be close to 54 now. I think Sir Graham may be just waiting for the anniversary weekend. to finish to announce it.
Brady himself remained silent, telling reporters that “it’s not my usual pastime” to collect letters.
Lord Hague said Gray’s report last week on parties violating the No. 10 blockade set fire to the “slow fuse explosion” touch paper.
“Mr Johnson was wrong to think he was safe just because the report did not cause an immediate flow of letters,” he said.
“This is not really the mood in the Conservative Party, which is very, very concerned about the content of this report,” Hague told Times Radio.
“I think they are moving either next week or around the end of June, they are moving towards a vote. It looks like that”.
Deputy Labor leader Angela Raynor said Mr Johnson was “reduced to a desperate call from his rebellious MPs, offering idlers in a doomed attempt to save his own skin”.
And she said Lord Hyde’s rebuke was “the last sign of the rampant filth engulfing Downing Street.”
In the preface to his delayed annual report on ministerial conduct, the ethics adviser said Mr Johnson had not taken into account the advice repeatedly handed over to number 10 that he should make a public statement on whether he had violated the ministerial code of conduct.
Failure to do so could put him in a position to advise the prime minister to launch an investigation against himself and then resign when Johnson refuses to do so, which will put the code “a place of ridicule,” he said. Lord Hyde.
But Mr Johnson replied that Lord Hyde had not raised the issue directly with him and accused the situation of “failed communication between our offices”.
The prime minister insisted he had complied with the code by correcting statements to parliament that were “good faith” but turned out to be untrue. And he said he did not believe the notice of a fixed £ 50 fine he received from police was a breach of the code.
Ms Raynor said: “The Prime Minister’s second ethics adviser is now threatening to leave, as a final sign of the spreading dirt engulfing Downing Street.
“No matter how much he tries to falsify the rules and avoid control, the prime minister has been exposed and his days are numbered.
And the main whip of the Liberal Democrats, Wendy Chamberlain, said: “This scathing criticism shows that even Boris Johnson’s ethics adviser no longer believes him to tell the truth. He is unfit to hold public office. “
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