Boris Johnson no-confidence vote under way as Tory MPs cast ballots to decide prime minister’s future – live

Boris Johnson has arrived to vote. He turned up with Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, and Andrew Griffith, his chief of staff. There did not seem to be a queue at the time and he got straight in.

Back outside committee room 10 the queue did clear for a moment (as Sir Bernard Jenkin went in), but another handful of MPs have now arrived. However, it is all slowing down. Voting is no longer “brisk”.

Some readers have asked what will happen if the no-confidence vote is tied. This was raised at a briefing where a senior party figure explained the process to journalists. They would not say. The reply was along the lines of: “We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it.”

Updated at 14.05 EDT

Theresa May refused to say how she voted as she left committee room 10, PA Media reports. She said she was not “answering any questions”.

John Lamont has resigned as a PPS because he will be voting against Boris Johnson, ITV’s Peter Smith reports.

Anti-Johnson campaigners outside Houses of Parliament this afternoon. Photograph: Niklas Halle’n/AFP/Getty Images

Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister who has called for Boris Johnson to go, told reporters after hearing Boris Johnson address the Conservative 1922 Committee earlier that it was a “very, very sad day”. He said it was “highly likely” that Johnson would “formally win” the vote. But he went on:

What that means over the months ahead, I don’t know.

What I am certain of is that the Conservative party’s got to find a way to raise our standard of conduct in all things – not only amongst ministers, but amongst backbenchers, particularly when they give comment to all of you [the media].

Back at the committee room 10 doorstep, Michael Ellis, the paymaster general, has arrived. He says he has never had to queue before for one of these votes. There are about 20 people waiting to get in.

Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak will lay out “the plan for growth” next week, with a “broad outline of the prime minister’s vision across the board”, PA Media reports. PA says:

The PM did not promise a “specific tax cut” during a meeting of the 1922 Committee earlier, a senior Tory party source said source said, but there is a “very big speech by him and the chancellor on the economy” on the way.

Johnson also spoke of another planned announcement with the levelling up secretary on housing.

He told MPs: “If I am here later this week – and I very much hope that I will be – Michael Gove and I will be setting out plans to kindle that dream of home ownership in the hearts of millions who currently believe it is beyond their means.”

And on tax Johnson told his MPs:

And then there is one chunk of household income that is the biggest of all, and that is tax.

Everyone understands the fiscal impact of Covid, the cost of clearing the backlogs.

But the way out now is to drive supply side reform on Conservative principles and to cut taxes and to drive investment in the UK.

Theresa May has arrived to vote. She looks like she has dressed for a special occasion – presumably a dinner engagement later although, given her feelings about Boris Johnson, perhaps the no-confidence ballot itself is a moment for celebration.

Updated at 13.58 EDT