Tories warn Johnson not to rest on his laurels

Backbenchers agree PM has survived the partygate scandal but rebellion looms on cost of living

CONSERVATIVE MPS have warned Boris Johnson that he may face more rebellions over the cost of living crisis but concede he has managed to ride out the partygate scandal.

Several of the ringleaders of a plot to oust the Prime Minister from office earlier this year told The Daily Telegraph they now believe he will not face an imminent leadership challenge but could face more trouble from his backbenches over the rising price of energy, and food.

Mr Johnson received a fixed penalty notice over an event for his birthday in June 2020 and now the police investigation into lockdown parties in Whitehall and Downing Street has closed he faces no further fines.

Last night Sir Charles Walker, who said in February he would “applaud” the Prime Minister if he resigned over the scandal, admitted he had been wrong.

“Four months ago, most people thought he was down and out. I was one of those people. And he just re-wrote the script,” he told the BBC.

“I never wanted him to be down and out because I have always had huge personal affection for the Prime Minister. I just thought his position was unrecoverable, and it seems that I was wrong.”

But Sir Roger Gale, who submitted his own letter of no confidence to the 1922 Committee over Dominic Cummings’s controversial trip to Barnard Castle, said several other issues were troubling backbenchers and that Mr Johnson could face more internal opposition. “If it’s not one thing it’s something else,” he said. “We just lurch from crisis to crisis. When will the U-turn be on the windfall tax? I am not happy with the idea of tearing up the Withdrawal Agreement and I know there are some others who feel the same. We can’t go on like this.”

Another Tory rebel added: “The Prime Minister is in a far better position than anyone expected him to be at this stage, but he’s not out of the woods yet.”

A senior Conservative, who still believes Mr Johnson should resign, said they no longer believe it is a likely outcome. “It looks to me like he’s got off scott-free,” they said. “My view hasn’t changed and I still think he has let people down incredibly badly and is culpable for the local election results.

“But within the party there is no appetite to get rid of him.”

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative Party leader, last night said Mr Johnson had been harmed by the scandal but suggested the focus would now shift to civil servants. “There is no question this has been damaging,” he said. “It was wrong, [Johnson] has apologised a lot for it and so he should, because they lost control of what was happening in Downing Street.

“[Civil servants] blurred the line very distinctly about what was work and what was not work, and they shouldn’t have done it and they have been fined, a large number of them, and that is quite right.”

Many Conservative MPS are privately angry with Mr Johnson for the damage that the partygate scandal has done to their electoral fortunes ahead of 2024.

“People in marginal seats, and by that I mean less than a 15,000 majority, are in despair, unless they are mad,” said one backbencher who has been publicly critical of Mr Johnson.

“Nobody knows who to replace him with though, so nothing will happen.”