Priti Patel tells Tory MPs calling for PM to quit to ‘forget it’

Home Secretary Priti Patel has told Conservative MPs pushing for the prime minister to resign to “forget it” and focus on “real challenges” instead.

Writing letters of no confidence in him was a “sideshow”, she said.

Twelve Tory MPs have called on Boris Johnson to quit since Sue Gray’s Partygate report last week, taking the the declared total to 28. A vote on his leadership would require 54 letters.

But Ms Patel told the Daily Mail: “We need to concentrate on doing our jobs.”

She added: “This isn’t about a parade [of leadership candidates] or a contest of letters.

“Look at what is going on in the world right now, look at the challenges that we face domestically. We can’t ignore those.

“Our job is to deliver on the people’s priorities. They won’t thank the Conservative party for talking about itself at a time when people have anxieties, concerns, apprehensions.”

Ms Patel also said leadership talk should not overshadow the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, adding that “all the focus” should be on the Queen and her “long-standing dedicated service”.

On Wednesday, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries told the BBC efforts to topple the prime minister were being co-ordinated by “one or two individuals” for reasons of “personal ambition”.

She accused Tory MPs trying to oust him of doing “the opposition’s work”, and said the “overwhelming” majority still backed him.

Most of the 28 MPs now openly urging Boris Johnson to go have written letters of no confidence in him, but the total number calling for a contest may be higher.

Only Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee that organises leadership elections, knows exactly how many have been submitted.

Under Tory party rules, 54 letters are needed to trigger a vote on the PM’s position.

Mr Johnson has rejected calls for him to quit, saying it would not be “responsible right now given everything that’s going on”.

Despite the uncertainty over the number of letters of no confidence, there has been mounting speculation Mr Johnson could face a vote soon.

On Monday, former Tory leader Lord Hague said the prime minister was in “real trouble” and predicted a vote could take place as early as next week, when MPs return from their early summer recess.

But Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said he doubted the number of letters was “that high”.

Meanwhile Lord Evans of Weardale, chairman of the independent Committee on Standards in Public Life, has said the police investigation into Partygate and the Sue Gray report has raised questions about whether proper standards are being upheld in government.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there had been “a lot of public disquiet about standards over the last six months”, and it was “really important to reassure people”.

Lord Evans also said it was up to Mr Johnson’s ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, to decide his next move after the prime minister insisted his Partygate fine did not amount to a breach of the ministerial code because he had not intended to break Covid rules.

In a report on Monday, Lord Geidt said there was a “legitimate question” over whether this constituted a breach of the ministerial code.

Speaking on Tuesday, the prime minister said he had considered the birthday gathering in the Cabinet Room – for which he was fined – to be a work event, and he was “very, very surprised” to have received the penalty notice.

Lord Evans, a former head of MI5, also told the BBC Lord Geidt should be free to launch his own inquiries into possible breaches of ministerial rules.

The prime minister has said the adviser will still need his consent to do this.

Lord Evans said: “In terms of public confidence, I think independent investigation of breaches is critical.”

Responding to Lord Evans’ comments, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner accused the prime minister of “lowering the bar each and every day he clings to office, trying to rig the rules as he faces investigation for deliberately misleading Parliament”.

Lord Evans had joined Lord Geidt in criticising Mr Johnson’s “cherry-picking of changes to the ministerial code”, she said.

Ms Rayner called for the prime minister to make a statement on his “apparent breach” of the rules.