Image source, UK Parliament

Jesse Norman has been speaking after calling for a confidence vote in Boris Johnson's premiership.

Johnson's former supporter tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme there is a "clear picture of a much wider set of concerns" that go beyond the Partygate scandal.

The MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire says it extends to "core policy issues" like the government's plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda, and the "potential breach" of the Northern Ireland protocol of the Brexit deal.

There is, he adds, "deep concern" about the way in which policy is being handled, with the creation of "dividing lines and cultural war and poilitical disagreement" when "unifying" and "positive" leadership is needed.

Norman says another "question" is over what he calls the "gradual centralisation of power" in No 10, adding that Johnson is not a president. and it would be a "very serious mistake" to treat him as one.

It is therefore "very important", Norman says, that his colleagues vote against the PM in the ballot.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has joined the cabinet members and other ministers announcing their support for Boris Johnson before this evening's confidence vote.

He says the PM has shown "strong leadership" across issues such as the vaccine rollout and support for Ukraine.

Justice Secretary Dominic Raab also says Johnson has "got the big calls right" as he urged Tory MPs to back him.

Brexit Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg says the "time for navel-gazing is over" and says MPs would be wise to accept the PM's mandate from the electorate.

Image source, EPA

The confidence vote on Boris Johnson's leadership follows months of criticism over lockdown parties in Downing Street. Here are the key recent developments:

• The PM was fined £50 in April for attending a rule-breaking birthday party - for himself - in June 2020
• This was followed by poor results for the Conservatives in local elections in early May
• The report by senior civil servant Sue Gray on Downing Street parties - published in late May - found a drunken culture, including staff being sick, and abuse of cleaning and security workers
• She also said warnings that gatherings could be illegal had been ignored
• Johnson said he took "full responsibility for everything that took place on my watch" and had been "humbled by the whole experience"
• But he ruled out quitting, saying he wanted to "keep moving forward"
• However, at least 54 Tory MPs - 15% of the parliamentary Conservative Party - have declared they have no confidence in Johnson, prompting today's vote on his future

If Johnson wins tonight, and at least 180 MPs vote in favour of him, he will remain as leader and be immune from another no confidence vote for a year.

But the BBC's Nick Robinson points out that recent prime ministers who have "won" confidence votes have gone on to lose in the longer term - Margaret Thatcher resigned eight days after winning, Theresa May did the same within six months, and John Major lost to Tony Blair in a landslide at the general election.

However, he says he believes Johnson is willing to fight for the job - and "will probably cling on and wait for something to turn up".

We've already heard from Foreign Secretary Liz Truss - but several other ministers have also urged their colleagues to back Boris Johnson.

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly cites Johnson's election track record, saying he won London twice against expectations, before adding he has "governed brilliantly".

"I’m not going to go flaky on him now," he says.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke says "it is crystal clear to me that Boris Johnson and Boris Johnson alone won our historic victory in 2019".

And Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis says the PM "got the big decisions right" and has "apologised for mistakes made".

It's important to remember, though, that seniority doesn't count in the confidence vote - it's one MP, one vote.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, Sir Graham Brady has announced that a vote of confidence in Boris Johnson will take place this evening. But who is Sir Graham?

The Tory backbencher has been the MP for Altrincham and Sale West since 1997. He served as shadow minister for Europe under four Conservative leaders before resigning in 2007 in protest at then-leader David Cameron's opposition to grammar schools.

Sir Graham became chair of the 1922 Committee in 2010, succeeding Sir Michael Spicer.

The committee acts as a line of communication between the Tory leader and his or her rank-and-file MPs, otherwise known as backbenchers - those who do not hold ministerial or other government roles.

After briefly leaving the post in May 2019 to explore the possibility of launching a bid to become leader of the party, Sir Graham temporarily returned in September of the same year. He was then re-elected as the permanent chair in January 2020.

Today's confidence vote in Boris Johnson will be the second he has overseen, after Theresa May's in 2018.

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We've got more from Health Secretary Sajid Javid now, who was speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme moments after the vote of confidence was announced.

He insists the ballot will be an "opportunity" for the Tories "to put behind all this frenzied speculation we've had over the last few days and to get behind a programme of delivery".

"There's many challenges ahead so this is an opportunity tonight for all my colleagues to get behind this programme," he says, adding it will remind the party that they are "strongest" when united behind a leader.

He admits a vote of confidence is not "what [he] wanted to see", but he says he has "full respect" for his colleagues and understands the "frustrations" of those who have called for the ballot.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says Boris Johnson has her "100% backing" in the vote and urges her fellow Tory MPs to support him.

In a tweet, external, she adds: "He has delivered on Covid recovery and supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.

"He has apologised for mistakes made. We must now focus on economic growth."

Image source, PA Media

Back in December 2018, the then prime minister, Theresa May, was coming under immense criticism within the Conservative Party on how she was delivering Brexit.

When 15% of her MPs declared they had no confidence in her leadership, a vote was called, as is happening later today for Boris Johnson.

May won the vote, with 63% of MPs supporting her. This meant another such vote was ruled out for at least another year. But the result did not quell the disquiet over her leadership.

By May 2019, May said she was unable to deliver Brexit and announced she would quit as Tory leader the following month, allowing a contest to replace her - with the winner also becoming the next prime minister.

Johnson took over in July 2019.

We've just got some reaction from Downing Street to the confidence vote over Boris Johnson's premiership.

No 10 says Johnson "welcomes the opportunity to make his case to MPs", and that tonight's vote is "a chance to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on".

Vicki Young
Deputy Political Editor

Remember the vote later is a secret ballot - which means ministers don’t have to do what they’re told by party managers.

One tells me: “From the moment Boris Johnson backed Cummings over Barnard Castle, this moment was coming.

"MPs are tired of being tainted.”

A strong theme coming through is that many Tory MPs feel that Johnson is dragging the Conservative Party down, and destroying its reputation - as well as his own.

Under the current rules, if Boris Johnson wins the confidence vote, he would be immune from the same kind of challenge to his leadership for 12 months.

But there has been speculation that the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs could seek to change those rules.

Brady is asked about that possibility and says: "Technically, it's possible."

But he says as the rules stand, there could be no further confidence votes for a year.

As we've been reporting, the vote will begin at 18:00 today.

Sir Graham says he is "not surprised by the speed" with which the ballot has come about, and insists it should be held as soon as possible.

Citing the 2018 vote held on Theresa May's leadership, he says he spoke to the former prime minister the evening before - and the vote was held the following day.

He adds it is "better for everyone" to get the vote out of the way as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Some rebels believe the hard part has been donepublished at 08:31 British Summer Time 6 June 2022

08:31 BST 6 June 2022

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

The speculation is over. So too is the spirit of celebration - at least at Westminster.

There will be a vote of confidence in the prime minister - and his Conservative colleagues have to make the serious decision on whether to oust Boris Johnson amid a war in Europe and a cost of living crisis here.

If 180 Conservative MPs says he should go, there will be a leadership contest and he won’t be a candidate.

Some of the rebels believe that the difficult hurdle has been to reach the 54 letters from colleagues to trigger the vote.

Faced with a binary choice of whether in all likelihood to go in to the next general election with Boris Johnson as leader - with a new inquiry into Partygate from a cross-party committee of MPs about to get under way - or to take the option of ditching him now, they think enough of their fellow MPs will abandon their support for him in a secret ballot.

His supporters are confident he will see off the challenge, which under party rules means he is spared another one for a year. Many - though not all - ministers will remain loyal.

But were he to win narrowly - 52/48 as one rebel put it - then some of his critics believe he will be under pressure from senior figures to end the agony and go.

But that doesnt really sound like Boris Johnson.

So some of the speculation at Westminster from Tory and Labour MPs alike is whether the PM would seek a new mandate and call an early election.

Behind in the polls, that may sound improbable. But how many improbable things have happened in poltitics in the past decade.

The chair of the 1922 Committee is asked if he put in a letter of no confidence to himself, and says: "I'm not going to answer that question."

He adds: "Technically it would be possible, but I think it would be a slightly odd thing to do."

Asked when the threshold was passed, Sir Graham says some Tory MPs "asked specifically that it should not be until the end of the Jubilee celebrations".

Pressed on whether MPs post-dated their letters to ensure there was no distraction from the Jubilee, Sir Graham admits "that is not a bad description of events".

Sir Graham Brady is is asked about the PM's reaction to the vote.

He says he's not going to go into detail - but says he notified Boris Johnson yesterday, and they agreed a timetable to hold the vote as soon as possible.

The chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative MPs is answering questions outside the Houses of Parliament now...

The BBC's Political Editor Chris Mason has just shared Sir Graham Brady's letter:

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