PM quotes from The Lion King as fightback begins

BORIS Johnson will promise to listen more to his Cabinet as he fights to stay in Downing Street.

The Prime Minister will give a guarantee to ministers that they will be involved in key decisions as he seeks to persuade them not to move against him.

Yesterday, the PM delivered a ‘half-time pep talk’ to staff in No10 as he tried to boost morale following the departure of five aides in 24 hours. Quoting from The Lion King movie, he insisted ‘change is good’, while making clear his determination to remain in Downing Street so he can continue serving the country.

Mr Johnson also promised Tory MPs a ‘direct line’ to No 10 to dissuade them from demanding a vote of no confidence in his leadership.

He will set out the details of his new approach to the Cabinet next week, and also plans a blitz of health-focused policy announcements in a bid to seize the initiative.

But the PM suffered a fresh setback as backbencher Aaron Bell became the latest MP to declare publicly that he had submitted a letter of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 backbench committee.

Downing Street is still confident that Mr Johnson does not face the danger of an imminent challenge, but aides are fearful a ministerial resignation could create momentum that leads to him being ousted.

A Cabinet minister last night warned that the PM needed to start listening to his senior ministers if he wanted to survive.

‘For too long Cabinet meetings have been a rubber-stamping exercise with everything

‘Change is good and necessary’

presented to us as a fait accompli – that has to stop,’ they told the Daily Mail.

Mr Johnson will spend this weekend at Chequers, from where he is expected to hold phone calls with ministers and backbenchers.

In a letter to all Conservative MPs, he yesterday insisted he was ‘committed to improving the way 10 Downing Street, and Government more broadly works’’. He promised further updates in the coming days on his new approach that will include working with Sir Graham to re-establish backbench policy committees.

‘I want these policy committees to play an important role in generating ideas and discussion and so I encourage colleagues from across the party to get involved,’ Mr Johnson wrote.

‘I understand the deep importance of engaging with colleagues in Parliament and listening to your views and that is why I want colleagues to have a direct line into 10 Downing Street.’

He said Andrew Griffith, the MP who is taking over as director of policy after the resignation of long-time adviser Munira Mirza, will provide ‘whatever engagement and support is necessary to make this a success’.

Earlier, Mr Johnson channelled the philosopher monkey Rafiki from the Disney film.

Speaking to staff in the Cabinet room as others tuned in on Zoom, the PM said: ‘As Rafiki in The Lion King says, change is good, and change is necessary even though it’s tough.’

He also gave his familiar ‘halftime pep talk’ in which he talks about spitting out the ‘orange peel’ and getting back on the ‘pitch’. He delivered the same message to his Cabinet in September last year after carrying out a ruthless cull of his top team.

Speaking to journalists, the PM’s official spokesman denied that Mr Johnson had lost control of Downing Street.

He said: ‘The Prime Minister has acknowledged it’s a challenging time as we go through a period of change but as he reiterated to the whole team today, there is an important job to do, the public expects us to be focused on it, whether it is the situation in Ukraine, recovering from the pandemic or, as the Chancellor was setting out yesterday, on issues such as cost of living.’ The spokesman said Mr Johnson had ‘reflected on the privilege of working in No 10 in order to deliver for the British people’ in his speech to staff.

‘[He] reiterated his commitment to serving the public by keeping people safe, improving lives and spreading opportunity,’ the spokesman added. ‘He thanked those who are leaving for their contributions alongside the whole team for their work – the pandemic response, vaccine rollout and efforts to protect lives and livelihoods which has led to us being the most open economy in Europe.’

Mr Bell, one of the 2019 intake of Tory MPs, became the tenth backbencher to publicly admit submitting a letter calling for a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson.

Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Mr Bell said the ‘breach of trust that events in No 10 Downing Street represent, and the manner in which they have been handled, makes his position untenable’.

This week in the Commons, Mr Bell asked Mr Johnson if he thought he had been a ‘fool’ for following Covid restrictions at his grandmother’s funeral. A confidence vote will be triggered if Sir Graham receives 54 letters, which is 15 per cent of the parliamentary party.