Boris Johnson is in “yellow card territory” after the publication of the long awaited Sue Gray report into the Partygate scandal, a government minister has said.
The comments from John Glen come amid a drip-feed of no confidence letters being submitted in the prime minister’s leadership, with one former Tory cabinet minister warning that discontent was spreading in the party.
Last night, Conservative MP Bob Neill became the latest to call on Mr Johnson to resign, insisting the report by the senior civil servant Ms Gray had uncovered “wholly unacceptable” behaviour in No 10 and undermined trust.
Boris Johnson continues to face criticism over Partygate
Appearing on BBC’s Any Questions, Treasury minister Mr Glen said “everyone feels let down” by the events at the heart of government, and highlighted Mr Johnson’s apology to the public and MPs.
But Mr Glen admitted: “I recognise for some that apology will never be enough for the distress he has caused through what has happened in No 10.
“But I do think we have to see this in terms of the prime minister now having received that report, the Sue Gray report, he’s effectively I think we’re in yellow card territory.”
Mr Glen also revealed he had a “frank” meeting with the prime minister where he told Mr Johnson “how I felt and how my constituents felt, but he asked me to get on with the job of delivering the reforms that I need to in financial services”.
“What he did say is its important we get on and deliver, and as a member of his team, as a minister I will continue to do that. We’ve got to deliver on the levelling up agenda that we set out and we’re given that mandate and responsibility for”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the senior Tory MP David Davis warned that discontent was spreading across the Conservative ranks due to MPs fearing the controversy around the Downing Street lockdown parties could cost them their seats.
“Nobody in the world could have made it plainer, I don’t think, that I want the prime minister to go — I haven’t changed my mind about that,” he said.
Asked whether discontent was spreading in the Conservative Party, the senior backbencher said: “There is no doubt about that, for two reasons. Number one, frankly they see their own seats disappearing in many cases, they see themselves losing the next election on the back of this.
“Also, it has a bad effect on the country… it is a distracting on everything you do and it doesn’t help the reputation of the country.”
But pointing to the premierships of both Theresa May and Sir John Major, the former Brexit secretary said party leadership trouble traditionally took a “long time” to be sorted out, adding: “I fear we will not resolve this until the latter part of the year”.
