Ousting Boris Johnson over Partygate would be an “exceptionally silly” thing to do, Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned wavering Conservative MPs.
Fellow cabinet minister Priti Patel has also rallied the PM’s defence, telling backbencher Tories pushing for him to resign to “forget it”.
Mr Johnson is growing pressure in the wake of Sue Gray’s report on parties in Downing Street, with almost 30 Tory MPs calling for his resignation and 44 openly questioning his leadership.
Some Tory rebels believe they could reach the 54 no-confidence letters needed to trigger a vote on his leadership next week, but the PM’s allies remain defiant – blasting plotters as “self-indulgent, narcissistic and contemptuous”.
Me Rees-Mogg told TalkTV that Mr Johnson remains “an enormous electoral asset – I think the idea that a change of leader would help the Conservatives is for the birds”.
The Brexit opportunities minister added: “It would be the most divisive thing that the party could do. It’s an exceptionally silly thing to want to try and open the door to Sir Keir Starmer assuming he manages to survive.”
Ms Patel told the Daily Mail that writing letters of no-confidence in Mr Johnson was a “sideshow” and the party should be focused on “real challenges that we have to find solutions to”.
Culture secretary Nadine Dorries told the BBC that efforts to topple the PM are being co-ordinated by “one or two individuals” for reasons of “personal ambition”.
Simon Fell, Tory MP for Barrow and Furness, was the latest to criticise Mr Johnson – attacking the “corrosive culture and a failure of leadership” that allowed the parties to happen in a letter to a constituent shared on social media on Wednesday.
Former minister Caroline Dinenage, Tory MP for Gosport, also told constituents she was “not prepared to defend” party leadership, saying: “Those at the top must take responsibility for the culture.”
It brings the number of MPs to speak out against his Mr Johnson and question his leadership to 44. But only 28 have explicitly called for him to quit, and the number of no-confidence letters sent to the 1922 committee chair Sir Graham Brady is unknown.
Johnson allies told The Times he remains confident he would win any no-confidence vote – which requires he retains the loyalty of 180 MPs.
One said: “Would it not be the most self-indulgent, narcissistic and contemptuous thing to decide that now is the time for another three months of Conservative navel-gazing?”
Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood called for “civility” in the party as it wrestles with the leadership question, as he confirmed he had sent a letter of no-confidence months ago.
Asked about briefings against the plotters, he told Times Radio on Thursday: “I’m worried about the language now being used. I do worry about where [the debate] is descending. The party itself must work together, whatever happens.”
“But you can’t get away from the fact that there are genuine concerns [about Johnson’s leadership]. It’s reflected the polling, local elections and no doubt in the by-elections as well. And those issues do need to be addressed.”
Meanwhile, another parliamentary watchdog intervened in the Partygate saga – insisting that the it was vital for the public to be reassured of “decent standards” in government.
Lord Evans, chair of the independent Committee on Standards in Public Life, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday that “you’ve got to raise questions” in light of the scandal.
The ex-MI5 chief said it was his committee’s view that it is “critical” for Mr Johnson’s own ethics adviser Lord Geidt to be free to launch his own inquiries into possible breaches of ministerial rules – arguing he was not “sufficiently independent” at the moment.
