Senior Conservative MP Mark Harper has called for Boris Johnson to step down over his conduct during the Partygate scandal – saying the prime minister was “no longer worthy” of the office.
The former minister revealed that he had sent a letter of no-confidence to the 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady shortly after Mr Johnson apologised “unreservedly” in the Commons.
Mr Harper, who leads the Covid Recovery Group, told MPs: “I’m very sorry to have to say this, but I no longer think he is worthy of the great office that he holds.”
The senior figure added: “We have a PM who broke the rules that he told the public to follow, hasn’t been straightforward about it – and is now going to ask the decent men and women on these benches to defend the indefensible.”
In his letter to the 1922 Committee chair, Mr Harper suggested Mr Johnson may have broken the ministerial code – saying it was “difficult to avoid the conclusion that the prime minister has misled parliament”.
Mr Harper accused the PM of fostering a “toxic culture” at No 10 – saying the clearest example was staff partying “hours before Her Majesty the Queen laid to rest her beloved husband”.
Dismissing the idea that a leadership contest would be unwise during the Ukraine war, Mr Harper said it was at times of international crisis “that our country needs a prime minister who commands trust [and] obeys the law”.
The senior figure added: “I have reached the conclusion he is no longer able to deliver the principled leadership required to take our country forward … Our party still has so much to offer our country, but sadly, not under Boris Johnson’s leadership.”
Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the idea that Mr Harper’s statement was a “big moment”. He told LBC Radio: “Mark had been gearing up for that for some time. It was quite funny when he said how much it pained him when he was clearly enjoying the moment thoroughly.”
Mr Rees-Mogg also said Mr Johnson’s “contrition was very genuine” and insisted: “I think it is clear that the prime minister did not knowingly misled.”
In his first comments to the Commons since he was handed a £50 fine for attending his birthday party in June 2020, Mr Johnson repeated the “full apology” he first made in a broadcast interview last week.
Asked if he had deliberately misled the House by telling MPs in December that Covid rules were followed at Downing Street, he replied: “No.”
The apology was dismissed as “half-hearted” by Sir Keir Starmer – who repeated his call for Mr Johnson to resign after becoming the first sitting PM found to have broken the law.
The Labour leader urged Tory MPs to “bring an end to this shameful chapter”, adding: “I urge them again – don’t follow in the slipstream of this out of control, out of touch prime minister.”
However, several Tory MPs came to Mr Johnson’s defence. Robert Halfon, chair of the education select committee, thanked the PM for his apology and said it would “mean something to my constituents”.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton Brown, treasurer of the 1922 committee, praised the “fulsome apology” and said the prime minister was “taking a lead in Ukraine”.
Veteran Tory MP Sir Bill Cash pointed out that the fixed penalty notice was a civil fine – claiming that it comes without “any admission of guilt”.
Steve Baker MP, Mr Harper’s fellow lockdown sceptic, said: “My right honourable friend could not have made a more humble apology.” But the senior Tory backbencher added: “What assurance can he give us that nothing of this kind will ever happen again?”
Tory MP David Simmonds also challenged Mr Johnson, saying he understood public anger over parties. “I have to ask … what steps he had in mind to restore the moral authority of this government?”
Mr Johnson replied that he was “heartily sorry”, before saying he had “taken steps to change the way we do things in No 10”. But the PM refused to say whether he accepted that he had broken the law.
Conservative MP Sir Robert Goodwill reportedly asked some constituents which leading Tory figure would make the best “alternative” PM. In an email shared by Times Radio, the MP for Scarborough and Whitby outlined the merits of several cabinet members – including Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Sajid Javid.
But Sir Robert insisted that he was not suggesting there should be a leadership contest, claiming the letter sent to around 100 constituents was only bid to “smoke out” Labour supporters writing to him.
A no-confidence vote in the PM is triggered if 1922 chair Sir Graham Brady has 54 letters from Tory MPs. But two of the dozen or so MPs who said they had submitted letters earlier this year recently said they had withdrawn their missives, citing the Ukraine war.
Meanwhile, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has allowed MPs to vote on a Labour motion this Thursday on whether the PM should face an investigation over claims he misled parliament over Covid rule breaches.
Labour is understood to be wording the motion to make the vote about whether to refer Mr Johnson to the Committee of Privileges, which has the power to summon reports and documents.
A Labour source: “Any Conservative MP considering voting to block this investigation would be voting for a cover-up. They should reflect on the mess they got themselves into over Owen Paterson before falling into line.”
