Penny Mordaunt became the latest Minister to be put on ‘resignation watch’ tonight as sources in the pro-Boris Johnson camp said a no-confidence vote was inevitable – while the PM told allies it will take a ‘tank division’ to drag him out of No.10.
One Minister told The Mail on Sunday the shadow whipping operation to shore up support for the Prime Minister was increasingly ‘worried’ that she might quit over Partygate.
The group is led by Chris Pincher, a former whip, and has been most active in organising loyalists as well as drawing up a list of MPs ahead of a potential confidence vote.
It comes after the PM was rocked by the dramatic resignation of his long-serving policy chief Munira Mirza this week, who was followed by director of communications Jack Doyle, chief of staff Dan Rosenfield, principal private secretary Martin Reynolds and special adviser in the policy unit Elena Narozanski.
In a bid to ride out the Partygate storm, Mr Johnson Saturday evening announced new chiefs of staff and communications – Brexiteer Steve Barclay and outspoken Remainer Guto Harri respectively.
The shadow whipping operation to shore up support for the Prime Minister was increasingly ‘worried’ that Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt (pictured) might quit over Partygate
Meanwhile allies of Trade Minister Ms Mordaunt, who belongs to the One Nation group of moderate Tories, confirmed she was unhappy with the Government’s handling of the crisis, the police investigation and the Prime Minister’s Jimmy Savile comments aimed at Sir Keir Starmer.
One said it was ‘absolutely’ possible that she might quit, adding: ‘She is trying to put herself forward as someone with conscience and a sense of fairness.’
Another source said Ms Mordaunt – who once showed off her diving skills in Tom Daley’s ITV show Splash! – was ‘on manoeuvres’ and had recently been meeting MPs to drum up support for an expected run at the leadership.
However, a source close to the former Defence Secretary said talk that she was considering resigning ‘does not reflect well on the shadow whipping operation. She isn’t. She is doing her job and calling for calm heads.’
Mr Johnson is said to have told allies that he is determined to cling on to power, with one senior adviser telling the Sunday Times: ‘He’s making very clear that they’ll have to send a Panzer division to get him out of there.’
However members of the embattled premier’s shadow whipping operation told the same paper that they believe at least 35 MPs have submitted letters of no confidence – and that the figure could be as high as 45. Some MPs think it may already be more than 50.
Meanwhile, Carrie Johnson is reportedly mulling whether it would be better for her and the children if Boris calls it quits amid a growing pressure and spotlight on her role in Downing Street.
Such feelings may set to intensify over the weekend as extracts from Lord Ashcroft’s explosive biography on the PM’s wife are published.
Meanwhile, others Tories are also said to be considering quitting, including Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey and Solicitor General Alex Chalk. Sources close to both said they had no plans to go.
A Home Office source told The Mail on Sunday Mr Johnson will likely get a fixed penalty notice over the flat parties. Many see this as the turning point that would force Ministers to quit.
Penny Mordaunt revealed her feelings towards Mr Johnson in a letter to one of her constituents
Boris Johnson’s political opponents are said to be preparing a ‘brutal briefing campaign’ to discredit his wife (both pictured at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester last year) in a bid to topple his premiership as fresh storm clouds circle over Downing Street at the end of a tumultuous week
As ex-Schools Minister Nick Gibb became the 14th MP to call for Mr Johnson to quit, a Johnson loyalist said it was ‘inevitable’ that 54 no-confidence letters would be sent to Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee – the threshold for a vote.
Referring to Parliament’s recess, the source said the PM must ‘survive until Thursday’, adding: ‘After that MPs all go skiing. If he survives until Thursday, he survives until the May elections.’
Last week, Mr Johnson met Remainer former Ministers, who lost their jobs when he came to power. A source said former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, ex-Health Minister Stephen Hammond and former Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright attended ‘olive branch’ meetings.
Meanwhile, speculation mounted over a leadership run by Ben Wallace as the Defence Secretary began to woo MPs – ostensibly discussing defence matters.
A source said he was seen as a ‘safe pair of hands’ for Team Boris should the Prime Minister lose a confidence vote. But sources close to Mr Wallace said: ‘Now is not the time for a leadership bid.’
Boris Johnson Saturday evening announced that Brexiteer and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay, 49, will become the PM’s chief of staff, while former GB News presenter and outspoken Remainer Guto Harri, 55, will head up the communications role.
Mr Johnson said both men will ‘improve how No 10 operates, strengthen the role of my Cabinet and backbench colleagues, and accelerate our defining mission to level up the country’.
Mr Barclay will be ‘in charge of integrating the new Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office, driving the Government’s agenda more efficiently and ensuring it is better aligned with the Cabinet and backbenchers.’
Cardiff-born Mr Harri has held several top communications roles in the past and was the PM’s spokesman and chief of staff during his first term as London mayor.
Last July, he was publicly reprimanded by GB News executives and forced out after taking the knee in solidarity with black England football stars who received racist abuse after the Euros final.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Steve Barclay (pictured) will become the PM’s chief of staff and will be ‘in charge of integrating the new Office of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office, driving the Government’s agenda more efficiently and ensuring it is better aligned with the Cabinet and backbenchers’, No 10 said
Journalist Guto Harri (pictured) is joining Downing Street as director of communications. He was Mr Johnson’s spokesman and chief of staff during his first term as London mayor.
Mr Harri’s new appointment has already caught the eye of ousted former special aide Dominic Cummings, who tweeted in response to the news on Saturday night: ‘Message from No10: ‘So our new boss is a pro-Remain lobbyist who’s said the PM is ‘sexually incontinent’, ‘hugely divisive’, ‘destructive’, ‘dragging the country down’, & picked ‘wrong side’ in referendum’ GREAT.”
Mr Harri’s new appointment has already caught the eye of ousted former special aide Dominic Cummings, who tweeted in response to the news on Saturday night: ‘Message from No10: “So our new boss is a pro-Remain lobbyist who’s said the PM is ‘sexually incontinent’, ‘hugely divisive’, ‘destructive’, ‘dragging the country down’, & picked ‘wrong side’ in referendum’ GREAT.”‘
In a 2018 Cardiff University alumni blog post, Mr Harri said he was ‘surprised, disappointed and arguably distraught’ about Mr Johnson’s leadership of the Leave campaign – adding that he held ‘very different views’ from his then-former boss on Brexit, describing Britain’s departure from the EU as ‘a catastrophic act of self-harm for the UK’.
That same year he also accused him of ‘digging his political grave’ and warned he would be ‘hugely divisive’ as a Prime Minister. The comments came as Mr Johnson faced a Tory backlash over his claim that Theresa May’s Brexit strategy had put the UK in a ‘suicide vest’ and handed the detonator to Brussels.
Mr Harri added that Mr Johnson was ‘dragging us into a place where we think that we can joke about suicide vests and that we can be sexually incontinent’.
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He told BBC Radio 4’s The Week in Westminster in 2018: ‘He was a huge unifying figure by the end of my time with him when the Olympics happened in London. There were people on left and right. He would not have been re-elected in a left leaning city like London if he hadn’t appealed to the left.
Boris Johnson (pictured) said both men will ‘improve how No 10 operates, strengthen the role of my Cabinet and backbench colleagues, and accelerate our defining mission to level up the country’
‘Now he’s gone the other way. He’s become more tribal, and tribal within the tribe, so that he would now be – if he were to become leader – a hugely divisive figure.’
But earlier justifying his new appointees, including Mr Harri, Mr Johnson said: ‘This week I promised change, so that we can get on with the job the British public elected us to do.’
‘We need to continue our recovery from the pandemic, help hundreds of thousands more people into work, and deliver our ambitious agenda to level up the entire country, improving people’s opportunities regardless of where they’re from.
‘The changes I’m announcing to my senior team today will improve how No 10 operates, strengthen the role of my Cabinet and backbench colleagues, and accelerate our defining mission to level up the country.’
More announcements are expected in the coming days with what No 10 said would be a ‘particular focus on improving engagement and liaison with MPs’.
