Boris Johnson to face MPs as leadership threat grows over No 10 parties row

Boris Johnson faces more questions about his leadership at Prime Minister's Questions, as the row over lockdown parties at No 10 continues.

Growing revolt among Tory MPs, including those elected in the 2019 election, poses a threat to the PM.

The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg says one MP claims around half of a group of 20 newer MPs submitted no confidence letters on Wednesday morning.

If 54 Tory MPs submit letters, it would trigger a leadership contest.

Only seven are known to have done so, but one MP told the BBC they thought the threshold could be reached shortly.

But only MP Sir Graham Brady, chair of the Conservative backbench 1922 committee - who receives and counts up the no-confidence requests - knows the exact number.

Defence Minister James Heappey urged his Tory colleagues to show "cool heads", adding now was not the right time for the country to change leader.

Many Conservatives have said they want to wait for civil servant Sue Gray to complete her report into gatherings in Downing Street before deciding what to do.

Downing Street party row

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So far, six Conservative MPs have publicly stated that they have submitted letters of no confidence in Mr Johnson to Sir Graham, while the BBC has been told a seventh - Christian Wakeford, the MP for Bury South - has also sent in a letter.

One MP involved in trying to encourage others to send letters told the BBC on Tuesday: "I think we've done it", but added "difficult to tell though".

It comes after a group of around 20 Tory MPs first elected at the 2019 election - and dubbed the 'pork pie plot' in a nod to one MP's constituency - met to discuss their concerns, with one Tory MP saying half of that group had now submitted letters in an attempt to trigger a ballot.

The MP said that quotes from ministers that the group of newer MPs were "idiots" and "fools" had hardened their attitude, and that some of them were threatened with losing their seats under planned boundary changes.

Two Tory sources told the BBC that the Owen Paterson lobbying row over the autumn had dented the ability of the "old guard" on the Tory backbenches to calm anger among newer MPs.

Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison messaged local campaigners to say that she had been the subject of a "fabricated" smear by Downing Street after some newspapers reported that she had been one of this group's organisers.

Conservative Chris Loder is among the 2019 intake, and said the group were simply "sharing views and opinions".

"I want to make sure that decency, honour and integrity are returned to the heart of government and I think that would be a good shared objective, rather than the distraction of briefing out about rebellion ringleaders."

The meeting was nicknamed by one cabinet minister as the "pork pie plot" because one of the attendees was Alicia Kearns, who represents Rutland and Melton (home of Melton Mowbray pies). Colleagues of Ms Kearns say she is not leading a rebellion.

The meeting of 2019 MPs dubbed "the pork pie plot" by an irritated member of cabinet might sound like something slightly comic, but it is serious.

And there is now a wider question - how many other dominoes may then fall?

In the last week or so, government ministers and the prime minister have been saying, and pleading with people, to wait for the official verdict from the Sue Gray report.

But some of this younger generation - not necessarily in age but in terms of time in Parliament - seem to have just lost patience with that.

And it isn't just them.

Remember in the darkest days for Theresa May, the Conservatives were broadly split in two - Brexiters and Remainers - with clear ring leaders on each side.

But this time it is a really circus of different factions that make the complexity of the picture very hard to read.

Let's take a breath though. A big part of the Tory leadership process is shrouded in secrecy, so anyone who purports to tell you with certainty what is going to happen should be treated with very healthy scepticism.

It is possible that the number of letters hits the threshold required of 54 in the next couple of days.

But it is also possible that the numbers may be miles off.

Whatever happens in the next 48 hours, the consensus that is growing in the Conservative Party is that as every day goes by, Boris Johnson is less likely to be leading them into the general election unless he - sometimes a political Houdini - can pull off his biggest ever political comeback.

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson insisted he was not warned a drinks party in No 10 on 20 May 2020 could be in breach of Covid rules.

Speaking to a reporter, he said he "humbly" apologised to people for "misjudgements that were made" but added he was "absolutely categorical" that "nobody said to me this is an event that is against the rules".

This contradicts the account of his former adviser Dominic Cummings who says he cautioned the prime minister about the event, billed by an official in an email invitation as "socially distanced drinks".

He also accused his former boss of lying to Parliament about his knowledge of gatherings in Downing Street.

Asked if he would resign if he was found to have misled MPs, Mr Johnson said: "Let's see what the report says."

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Mr Heappey suggested Mr Johnson's staff were to blame for the event going ahead, adding that the PM "doesn't really own his own diary" and its was "up to his team to have his back".

He says the gathering "reflects rather poorly on those who scheduled it, and put it in the prime minister's diary".

Lord Marland, a former Conservative party treasurer and Johnson ally, said MPs should "be careful what they wish for because the alternative is probably not thinkable".

Speaking to Newsnight, he said people should not "want to pillory a man who has led us through this crisis and create turmoil within the country".

Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns also urged people to get behind Mr Johnson, telling Channel 4: "Boris won seats for us in that 2019 election I never imagined would fall into the Conservative column."

As well as PMQs on Wednesday, Mr Johnson is set to update the public on England's Plan B measures.

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