London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Boris Johnson victim of Tory leadership plotters, says ally Nadine Dorries

Boris Johnson victim of Tory leadership plotters, says ally Nadine Dorries

One of Boris Johnson's strongest cabinet allies has hit out out Tory MPs trying to oust him, accusing them of doing "the opposition's work".

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries claimed growing calls for the PM to resign were the result of a "co-ordinated campaign" by backbenchers.

Criticism of Mr Johnson among Tory MPs has increased since Sue Gray's Partygate report last week.

But Ms Dorries said the "overwhelming" majority still backed him.

Twelve Conservative MPs have called on Mr Johnson to quit since the release of Ms Gray's report laid bare the scale of Covid rule-breaking in No 10.

It takes the number now openly calling on him to resign to 28. Most of have written letters of no confidence in him, although the total number formally calling for a contest may be higher.

Mr Johnson has dismissed calls for him to quit, adding it would not be "responsible right now given everything that's going on".
Under Tory party rules, 54 letters are required to set up a vote on the PM's position, a move which could eventually lead to a contest to replace him.

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

Nadine Dorries is urging Tory MPs to unite behind the prime minister


Speaking on BBC Radio 4's The World at One, Ms Dorries said the debate over Partygate had become a "Westminster bubble issue" and the public was "ready to move on".

"There is obviously, I think probably led by one or two individuals, a campaign behind the scenes to try, attempt to remove the prime minister for individual reasons to do with personal ambition or other reasons," she said.

She added: "The people who most want to get rid of Boris Johnson are Keir Starmer and the SNP".

"I would just ask my colleagues to reflect on that, and do we really want to do the opposition's work - and do we really believe the public will vote for a party that they think is divided?"


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

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

But speaking earlier, deputy PM Dominic Raab told Sky News he doubted the number of letters could be "that high".

There is no consensus among Tory MPs about who should be their next leader, but Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and senior backbencher Tom Tugendhat are among those being discussed as possible challengers.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak was widely seen as a potential leadership rival to the PM, but his prospects are thought to have waned after he picked up his own Partygate fine and was embroiled in a controversy over his wife's finances earlier this year.


There's no obvious thread linking the MPs that have publicly called on the prime minister to go.

Some of the calls have come in quick succession, others months apart.

They've come from MPs elected in different years, with different ideologies. Some of them backed Boris Johnson at the last Tory leadership contest, others backed his rivals.

Some Tory MPs are convinced there is a degree of co-ordination behind closed doors.

One senior Tory told me he believes supporters of Jeremy Hunt are among those being particularly critical publicly.

Others attribute the steady drip-drip of letters in recent days to a ripple effect. As soon as a few critical MPs came out publicly, they argue, others felt emboldened to do the same.

Co-ordination or not, there is no doubt MPs do talk to each other - there are Whatsapp groups and sub-Whatsapp groups of Tory MPs.

Even before Sue Gray's report came out, I was told the tea rooms of Westminster were alive with chatter about who was "ready to move".

Some of that chatter has been more muted as MPs are out of office for recess - with some arguing the Jubilee weekend is not the time for "internal warfare".

But that could all liven up again quite quickly when they return next week.

Meanwhile, the debate over the PM's future has been given fresh impetus after his standards adviser Lord Geidt called on him to explain how his own Partygate fine tallied with the rulebook for ministers, which says they have a duty to comply with the law.

Along with his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Mr Johnson was fined for attending a birthday party for him in the Cabinet Room in June 2020.

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

In a written reply, Mr Johnson said he had not fallen foul of the code because he had not broken Covid laws on purpose.

In an interview with Mumsnet on Tuesday, the prime minister insisted he thought the gathering in the Cabinet Room counted as a work event, and he was "very, very surprised" and "taken aback" to have received a fine.

Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner accused the prime minister of ignoring Lord Geidt's advice, and finding himself innocent of breaching ministerial rules in "his own courtroom".

Adding that Mr Johnson was "dodging questions", she called for him to "make a statement" on his "apparent breach" of the rules.

For the SNP, MP Mhairi Black called on Scotland's six Tory MPs to "step up and do the right thing" and submit no-confidence letters in "this Partygate prime minister".

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
×