Boris Johnson news live: Tories shelve no-confidence vote until partygate report, as MP defects to Labour

Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s live politics coverage, which will today focus on the threat to Boris Johnson’s premiership.

A growing number of Tory MPs reportedly want Boris Johnson gone after the backlash caused by a series of lockdown-breaching parties at No 10.

Seven Conservative backbenchers have so far said publicly that they have submitted no-confidence letters in the prime minister. But the actual number is likely to be much higher.

If a threshold of 54 letters is reached, a vote on the PM’s future as leader will take place.

Some 73 per cent of the British public – including 60 per cent of Tory voters – are angered by the No 10 parties, a poll commissioned by The Independent has found.

The Savanta ComRes survey also discovered that 80 per cent of people agreed that there is “one rule for the government and another for everybody else” under Boris Johnson’s leadership.

The findings come as more Conservative backbenchers reportedly scheme to oust him from leadership. Yesterday, a group of the most recent Tory intake allegedly met to discuss his future, in what has been called the “pork pie plot”.

Its name derives from the fact that it allegedly involved Alicia Kearns, the MP for Rutland and Melton – home of the Melton Mowbray delicacy.

Labour has stormed to a 32-point lead over the Tories in London amid the fallout from the partygate scandal, a new YouGov survey has indicated.

The poll, which was first reported by The Evening Standard, means that the Conservatives could lose eight seats in the capital, leaving them with only 13 MPs in the city.

Patrick English, political research manager at YouGov, said: “Clearly, this poll is not good news for the prime minister and the Conservatives in London.”

The Armed Forces minister has denied there is a drinking culture in Westminster.

James Heappey told BBC Breakfast: “I think it’s quite hard to answer that in a straight way because what I reflect on having worked both in Downing Street and in the MoD (Ministry of Defence), both departments where an awful lot of people have to work extraordinarily long hours, because they are dealing with real-time operational issues, and I don’t know that colleagues who get to the end of a very, very long day, and maybe have a glass of wine at their desk before they go home, is that a drinking culture different to those who finished work earlier in the evening and go for a drink with friends outside work?

“The fact is that I haven’t reflected that there is a drinking culture.

“I see people who work very hard and work very long hours, and very occasionally have a glass of wine together at the end of work.

“I think that there does need to be some reflection about the amount of alcohol that appears to be consumed and how regularly, not just the No 10 but in a number of departments of state, and I know that all secretaries of state and the Prime Minister and the senior civil service are quite seized at whether or not this reflects on a culture that needs to change.”

James Heappey warned his colleagues to keep “cool heads” as he said now was not the time to change prime minister.

The Armed Forces minister told BBC Breakfast: “What’s going on in the world right now, whether it be from a security perspective where there’s incredible instability in a number of regions of the world where the UK has great interest, or economically where as we’ve discussed inflation is rising as the global economy recovers from the pandemic.

“Or from the pandemic itself, which whilst I think the UK has weathered the Omicron surge well, by the way, that’s in no small measure of thanks for the decisions the prime minister has taken, we’re not out of the woods yet, and there’s still work to be done.

“This doesn’t feel like the time to be changing prime minister to me.”

Defence minister James Heappey has said he “sincerely hopes” Boris Johnson did not mislead parliament about the drinks party in the No 10 garden during the first Covid lockdown in May 2020.

In a message to MPs considering sending a letter to the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, Mr Heappey told Sky News: “This doesn’t feel like the time to be changing prime minister, if you ask me.”

My colleague Adam Forrest has more on this story:

UK environment secretary George Eustice has said he would not be submitting a letter of no-confidence in the prime minister.

He told BBC Good Morning Scotland: “I’ve got confidence in the prime minister. Clearly the revelations that have been coming out are damaging and it’s unsettled parts of the Conservative parliamentary party, there’s no denying that.

“I think the prime minister was right to apologise but I support him because I do think the important agenda that he’s got around levelling up our country, bringing our union together after a number of difficult years, arguing over things like Brexit, I think he is the right one to do that, and he has my support to carry out that important agenda that he was elected to.”

The Brexit-supporting boss of Wetherspoon, who once called Boris Johnson a “winner”, has said that, if Downing Street staff had been able to attend pubs in May 2020, his employees would have dealt with their alleged “high jinks”.

Tim Martin also said the CCTV installed in the company’s central London pubs could have helped with inquiries into what happened.

It came as Wetherspoon reported a 16.6% drop in sales over the 12 weeks to the middle of January, as the impact of the Omicron variant of coronavirus struck the hospitality industry.

The business warned it would make a loss in the first half of its financial year.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “The Conservatives are too distracted by scandal and infighting to sort out the cost-of-living crisis.

“Labour’s plan would give security by keeping bills low – saving most households £200, with extra support for those who need it most.”