Former attorney general Jeremy Wright becomes latest Tory MP to call for Boris Johnson to resign

Prime Minister Boris Johnson departs 10 Downing Street the day after the publication of the Sue Gray report (Dominic Lipinski/PA) (PA Wire)

Boris Johnson was facing a growing Tory revolt on Monday as two more backbenchers, including a former attorney general and a London MP, called on him to quit.

Carshalton and Wallington MP Elliot Colburn joined Kenilworth and Southam MP Jeremy Wright in calling for the Prime Minister to resign after the publication of the partygate report.

Mr Wright, a QC and former cabinet minister, said on Monday that the scandal had done “lasting damage” to the party.

The MP for Kenilworth and Southam said: “I have, with regret, concluded that, for the good of this and future governments, the prime minister should resign.”

In the 2,300-word statement Mr Wright said he could not be sure that the PM had lied to Parliament or “knowingly” misled the House of Commons.

However, he added: “The debate about, and investigation into, alleged parties in Downing Street has gone on for many months now, and the corrosive effect of that debate and the Prime Minister’s response to it must also be considered.”

It comes after Nadhim Zahawi said “every MP must feel that they can put themselves forward to lead their party” amid growing speculation of a challenge to the Prime Minister’s leadership.

The Education Secretary is seen as a potential challenger to Boris Johnson, if he was forced to stand down.

Mr Zahawi insisted on Monday that he backs Mr Johnson to lead the party into the next election, but when asked if he had ambitions to be PM he said it would be “a privilege”.

Speaking to the Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future podcast hosted by former special advisor Jimmy McLouglin, he said: “I think every member of Parliament must feel that they can at some stage put themselves forward to lead their party, their country — it’s a privilege.

“But the thing I really want is to be able to do this job and complete this journey. If I can deliver the same life chances I had to every kid in the country, even those whose parents don’t have the wherewithal or have no parents, then I will have done something truly great, as big as what I did on vaccines, and I can’t do that in just the two and a half years that I’ve got to the next general election.”

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But he added: “I want Boris to win another term. I want us to have another five years.”

Former Tory leader Michael Howard also declined to back Mr Johnson.

The Tory peer told the BBC he was “content” to leave it as a “matter to MPs in the House of Commons.”

In the Conservative Home cabinet league table, published on Monday, Mr Zahawi was the second most popular cabinet minister behind defence secretary Ben Wallace.

He has a net satisfaction rating of 66.2 points, with Mr Wallace on 85 points. Mr Johnson , in contrast, was the least popular, with a negative satisfaction rating of 15 points following a number of scandals surrounding his leadership.

Mr Johnson will face a confidence vote if 54 MPs write to Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, demanding one be held.

Fifteen Tory MPs have confirmed that they have written to Mr Brady, while another 19 have said the PM should resign but not confirmed a letter.

A further 31 Tory MPs have publicly criticised Mr Johnson over the partygate scandal. If his critics did reach the 54 letter threshold, they would then need more than half of Tory MPs to back the PM’s removal before a leadership contest could be held.

Conservative former minister Tobias Ellwood today said the party will lose the next election under the current leadership.

Mr Elwood told Sky News: “The party is increasingly in a difficult place. Polling is now saying we could lose 90 seats.

“And we still seem to be in denial. It’s time to shake off this partisan Stockholm Syndrome.”

But Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier suggested Mr Johnson remained more popular with voters outside of London and the south east.

He told the Standard: “From where I sit in the west Midlands its perhaps not as clear cut as some people think down in the south east.”

Technology minister Chris Philp also rejected any calls for a leadership contest.

The Croydon South MP said the Government should be focusing on the cost of living crisis .

He told ITV: “I think what we really need to do as a government, as a country, is just concentrate on the things that are really important, such as taking action on the cost of living challenges.”