Tory rebels ‘are plotting course to catastrophe’

■ Vote could be triggered this morning ■ Boris set to launch fightback ■ And PM’s key Cabinet ally warns:

NADHIM Zahawi warned Tory MPs last night they were plotting a course for disaster by seeking to remove Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.

The Education Secretary said the public ‘do not vote for divided teams’ – and unless the party unites it could go down to a defeat as catastrophic as Tony Blair’s Labour landslide of 1997.

Mr Johnson could find out as soon as today whether rebel MPs have collected enough letters to trigger a no-confidence vote in his leadership. One critic claimed at the weekend that 67 letters have been submitted to backbench chief Sir Graham Brady – significantly more than the 54 required. But Downing Street said it was simply not possible to know whether this is true.

Last night Mr Zahawi insisted the PM had got the ‘big calls right’ – and urged MPs to ‘get behind him’ to ensure the Conservatives win the next general election.

And Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that, although he did not think the threshold of 54 letters would be reached, he was confident that the PM would win any subsequent vote.

As MPs prepare to return to Westminster today after a week away:

■ It emerged that Tory rebels spent the Jubilee weekend circulating a dossier arguing that the only way to win the next election is to ‘remove Boris Johnson’;

■ Mr Johnson prepared to launch a fightback this week, unveiling plans to tackle NHS inefficiency and expand the right to buy;

■ A poll suggested that the Conservatives are on course to lose the by-election in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, later this month;

■ Splits emerged among Tory rebels about who should take over with a Remainer saying a new leader could rejoin the single market and a Eurosceptic demanded the successor be an ‘ardent Brexiteer’.

If the 54 letters have already been submitted, Sir Graham, chairman of the Conservatives’ backbench 1922 Committee, could make an announcement as soon as this morning. Observers expect any confidence vote to take place on Wednesday.

One Conservative MP said that if the announcement is not made tomorrow, it is likely any vote would be deferred until after the by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton in Devon on June 23.

Last night Mr Zahawi told the Daily Mail: ‘People do not vote for divided teams. We are strongest when we are united and focused on delivery for the British people. The PM has got the big calls right: be it on Brexit, vaccines or leading us out of the pandemic. We need to get behind him.’

Meanwhile, Mr Shapps told the BBC’s Sunday Morning yesterday that Mr Johnson would lead the Conservatives into a general election victory because the issues that ‘matter to people’ are Brexit and economic growth.

He dismissed the mixed reception received by the PM as he attended a service for the Queen at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, where boos could be heard from the crowd. Mr Shapps noted that there were also cheers and said ‘politicians don’t expect to be popular all the time’.

Asked if he believes there is going to be a vote of no-confidence in Mr Johnson this week, Mr Shapps said: ‘No, I don’t... I’m absolutely certain, with some of these huge decisions, like sorting out Brexit, getting through coronavirus, seeing the largest growing economy last year, these are decisions and actions which will matter to people.’

Asked if Mr Johnson would win a vote of confidence, the Transport Secretary said: ‘Yes, he will.’

Business minister Paul Scully last night said Mr Johnson could face a vote of noconfidence but backed him to ‘face it down’.

Speaking to Channel 4’s The Andrew Neil Show, Mr Scully said: ‘We may well have a vote of confidence. I think he will win that.’

Government sources said it was impossible to predict whether the threshold of 54 letters would be reached – and

‘We are strongest when united’

‘No alternative candidate’

how any subsequent vote would go.

The rebels would need 180 votes to remove the Prime Minister – and he has an inbuilt advantage as around 170 Tory MPs are on the so-called ‘payroll vote’ because they have jobs as ministers, trade envoys, ministerial ‘bag carriers’ or party vice-chairmen.

One source said: ‘Any confidence vote would be a secret ballot so it’s going to be very uncertain. And if a payroll MP votes against they are expected to resign.’ The source added: ‘The problem for the rebels is that there is no alternative candidate.’

Last week, divisions among the rebels emerged when Tobias Ellwood, an opponent of the PM, suggested the UK could rejoin the single market if Mr Johnson is replaced.

This prompted the Eurosceptic rebel Andrew Bridgen to say: ‘Let me be clear. If we get the opportunity to move on from the leadership of Boris Johnson, the next Prime Minister will have to be an active Brexiteer.’

MILITARY planners will tell you that before embarking on any major campaign, you must focus sharply on two things – the precise objective and the likely consequences of your actions.

The gimcrack alliance of Tory MPs moving against Boris Johnson may be certain about the first of these. As to the second, they are either clueless or simply don’t care.

A loose affiliation of disaffected Remainers, attention seekers, has-beens and never-weres, the rebels have little in common beyond a burning desire to defenestrate their leader. But what then?

Instead of concentrating on the real issues facing the country, the party would be plunged into a rancorous and debilitating succession crisis.

Worse still, there is no obvious candidate to take the helm – certainly not one likely to win the next election. All potential successors, decent though they may be, have glaring flaws or drawbacks.

Could Jeremy Hunt (derided by Tory critics as ‘Theresa May in trousers without the charisma’) galvanise Red Wall voters?

Would Rishi Sunak’s extreme wealth not jar in the teeth of a cost of living squeeze?

Liz Truss, Ben Wallace and Nadhim Zahawi are undoubtedly energetic and talented but untested at the highest level. The Tobias Ellwood tendency, meanwhile, would drag us back into the EU.

The truth is that Boris Johnson is by a country mile the best person to lead the Tory government and the country at this time. Set aside the Partygate pantomime and just look at what he has achieved.

He rescued the nation from political quagmire, got Brexit done, routed Corbynism and won a landslide victory on a One-Nation Conservative ticket which he can still deliver.

Having won in 2019, he was faced with an unprecedented global pandemic.

Mistakes were made and we mourn every Covid death. But thanks to the vaccine miracle and strong economic support, Britain’s outcomes compare well with the rest of the developed world.

Unlike any of his potential successors, Boris is also a proven winner. Despite a relentless campaign of Brexit-inspired vilification from Labour, the BBC and Sky, voters warm to him.

He is not a machine politician. Outside the metropolitan bubble that is a large part of his charm.

The only beneficiary of this ham-fisted coup attempt is Sir Keir Starmer. Wooden and blustering though he is, there is a real chance the Beergate hypocrite could acquire the Downing Street keys by default.

Labour’s chances of winning an overall majority are vanishingly small. But if the Tories implode, they could let in a nightmare coalition of Labour, Lib Dems, Scottish Nationalists, Greens and the rest of the deluded and dangerous Left.

If you think Boris has failings, just wait to see what havoc that lot would wreak. The break-up of the UK, the death of Brexit, genuflection to wokery and economic catastrophe are just one bad decision away.

Do the rebels really want that on their conscience? There are probably still more than two years to the next election. In that time, the Tory party must show it is a coherent political force which can be trusted with another five years of government.

The voters hate division and won’t elect a party paralysed by civil war.

So instead of undermining their leader like self-indulgent children, the mutineers should grow up and get behind him. For all our sakes. FOR 70 years, the Queen has put love of country and public service above all else. And, as the last four days of Platinum Jubilee celebrations have shown, the people love her for it. For an object lesson in the virtue of loyalty, the Tory rebels need look no further.