London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Aug 25, 2025

Top Tories say Boris Johnson is ‘plunging party into an identity crisis’

Top Tories say Boris Johnson is ‘plunging party into an identity crisis’

Partygate and U-turns on tax are ‘undermining message’, say Conservative MPs as more call for him to quit
Boris Johnson has plunged the Conservative party into an acute identity crisis as a result of Partygate and U-turns over tax policy, senior Tories warned last night, as more MPs called for him to resign as prime minister.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan-Smith told the Observer his party had been left with an “enormous identity problem” because it had raised taxes instead of cutting them under Johnson and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, undermining a core Tory message that had helped win it successive general elections.

Doubts about Johnson’s ability to survive as prime minister, and fears that the Tories are now on a terminal electoral slide, grew as party grandee Sir Bob Neill said the combination of collapsing trust in the prime minister, coupled with a lack of clarity over what the Conservatives stood for, had created a “toxic mix” in the minds of voters. Neill called on Friday for Johnson to go.

Yesterday two more MPs – former health minister Steve Brine and Anne Marie Morris – said they had also lost confidence in Johnson, taking the total who have gone public to 24.

Several others are understood to have written letters of no confidence to 1922 chair Sir Graham Brady without going public, and more have privately indicated they will do so. If 54 or more MPs submit letters to Brady, a leadership contest will be triggered.

“I reckon we are in the 40s,” said one rebel MP. Another added: “We are just a few off.”

On Thursday and Friday there was a mood of relief bordering on jubilation in Downing Street as Johnson and his team believed they had survived the publication of a damning report on Partygate by the senior civil servant Sue Gray, and then switched focus on to measures to address the cost of living crisis on Thursday.

While a £15bn package of measures announced by Sunak was broadly welcomed, many Tories were unhappy that the government funded part of it by performing a massive U-turn which saw it adopt Labour’s plan for a windfall tax on the profits of oil and gas companies.

Duncan Smith said that instead of imposing a tax rise on business, Sunak should have cut taxes for middle and lower earners, and restored the Tory reputation as a low tax party.

“He had the headroom not to do a windfall tax. Getting growth going is the priority. We have to avoid recession and to do that we have to lower taxes and get people spending.

“Conservatives believe in lower taxes, leaving people with more of their own money because they make the best choices. Unless we get back to this approach and cut taxes in the autumn budget we are in real trouble.”

The Tories, he said, now risked earning a reputation for being a high tax, big state party, having also raised national insurance in breach of a manifesto commitment. “I don’t just think we have a bit of an identity problem, we have a massive identity problem,” he said.

Gavin Barwell, the former Tory MP who served as Theresa May’s chief of staff in No 10, said the party’s electoral prospects under Johnson were grim: “By failing to take action against a prime minister approximately 60% of the public think should resign, Conservative MPs are sleepwalking to defeat at the next election.”

The latest Opinium poll for the Observer finds that 56% of all voters, including 32% of 2019 Tory voters, believe Johnson should resign. The poll was conducted after publication of the Gray report.

Oliver Heald, the Tory MP for North East Hertfordshire, told constituents that he was talking with fellow MPs about “what happens next”. He added: “I think it will take two to three weeks to know the answer.” Key byelections in Wakefield and in Tiverton and Honiton take place in three weeks. Former cabinet minister Robert Buckland said on Saturday that “changes will have to be made” if the party suffers heavy defeats.

The Liberal Democrats say many of those calling for Johnson to resign are in Tory seats they are targeting. “Conservative MPs who spent months defending Boris Johnson over Partygate are now finally acting because they’re worried about losing their seats,” said deputy leader Daisy Cooper.

“This byelection [in Tiverton and Honiton[ is a chance to send a clear message that people won’t stand for Johnson’s lies and lawbreaking and that he has to go. If we can overturn the huge Tory majority, the trickle of letters of no confidence in the prime minister could turn into a flood.”

Johnson caused further astonishment on Friday, just two days after declaring himself to have been “humbled” by the Gray report, when it was announced that he had rewritten parts of the ministerial code so that ministers no longer have to resign for minor breaches. He also removed a section of the code which referred to ethics. Labour on Saturday announced it would hold an opposition day debate in which the party would pledge to strengthen the code.

In a further potential blow to Sunak, doubts are being raised this weekend about whether the windfall tax will raise anywhere near the £5bn the chancellor claimed it would on Thursday.

The left of centre Common Wealth thinktank said he may only raise a fraction of that sum because of complex rules which allow investments to be offset against profits.

The warning comes after the Liberal democrats said delays to the tax’s introduction meant he had missed out on £3bn from the “extraordinary profits” reported by oil and gas firms in 2021 and another £8bn so far this year.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
A new faith called Robotheism claims artificial intelligence isn’t just smart but actually God itself
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner Purchases Third Property Amid Housing Tax Reforms Debate
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Italian Facebook Group Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent Shut Down Amid Police Investigation
Dutch Foreign Minister Resigns Amid Deadlock Over Israel Sanctions
Trump and Allies Send Messages of Support to Ukraine on Independence Day Amid Ongoing Conflict
China Reels as Telegram Chat Group Shares Hidden-Camera Footage of Women and Children
Sam Nicoresti becomes first transgender comedian to win Edinburgh Comedy Award
Builders uncover historic human remains in Lancashire house renovation
Australia Wants to Tax Your Empty Bedrooms
MotoGP Cameraman Narrowly Avoids Pedro Acosta Crash at Hungarian Grand Prix
FBI Investigates John Bolton Over Classified Documents in High-Profile Raids
Report reveals OpenAI pitched national ChatGPT Plus subscription to UK ministers
Labour set to freeze income tax thresholds in long-term 'stealth' tax raid
Coca‑Cola explores sale of Costa coffee chain
Trial hears dog walker was chased and fatally stabbed by trio
Restaurateur resigns from government hospitality council over tax criticism
Spanish City funfair shut after serious ride injury
Suspected arson at Ilford restaurant leaves three in critical condition
Tottenham beat Manchester City to go top of Premier League
Bank holiday heatwave to hit 30°C before remnants of Hurricane Erin arrive
UK to deploy immigration advisers to West Africa to block fake visas
Nurse who raped woman continued working for a year despite police alert
Drought forces closures of England’s canal routes, canceling boat holidays
Sweet tooth scents: food-inspired perfumes surge as weight-loss drugs suppress appetites
Experts warn Britain dangerously reliant on imported food
Family of Notting Hill Carnival murder victim call event unmanageable
Bunkers, Billions and Apocalypse: The Secret Compounds of Zuckerberg and the Tech Giants
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
×