Partygate: Dominic Raab plays down leadership challenge to PM

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Dominic Raab has dismissed claims Boris Johnson is about to face a leadership contest, despite growing resignation calls from Tory MPs.

Speculation is mounting that Mr Johnson could soon face a no-confidence vote over widespread Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street.

But deputy PM Mr Raab said this was “Westminster talking to itself”.

It comes as the PM’s standards adviser called on him to say how his actions complied with ministerial rules.

Lord Geidt said Mr Johnson had failed to publicly set out why his fine for breaking Covid rules did not also break the rules governing ministers’ behaviour, which say they must comply with the law.

Breaking the ministerial code is normally seen as a resigning matter.

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

Downing Street has not denied reports that Lord Geidt threatened to quit over the prime minister’s actions, which he said in a report had undermined his role as ethics adviser.

The BBC has been told Lord Geidt does not intend to hand in his resignation over the row.

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.

Twelve Conservative MPs have so far called on Mr Johnson to resign since senior civil servant Sue Gray released her report on lockdown rule-breaking in Downing Street last week.

In total, 28 have gone public with calls for a no-confidence vote in the PM. Most of them have submitted letters of no confidence in the PM, but the total number may be higher.

Mr Johnson, as well as his wife Carrie and Chancellor Rishi Sunak, were fined by Met police for breaking Covid laws by attending one of the gatherings investigated by Ms Gray.

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Lord Geidt has been Boris Johnson’s adviser on ministerial standards since April 2021.

Under party rules, Tory backbenchers can force a vote on the prime minister’s leadership if 54 of them submit letters of no confidence in him.

Only Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, who organises leadership contests, knows how many letters have been submitted.

On Monday, former Tory leader Lord Hague said the party’s MPs were “very troubled” about the contents of the Gray report, and he predicted the PM could face a no-confidence vote as early as next week.

If a no-confidence vote took place and Mr Johnson lost, it would trigger a contest to replace him as Tory leader and prime minister.

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.

Senior Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said the row over ministerial rules would “undoubtedly contribute” to questions over the PM’s leadership.

But he told BBC Radio 4 that “at the moment” he believed the Conservative Party should “leave matters as they are” and “continue with the present PM”.

“You’ve got to actually work out whether that new prime minister is actually going to be a positive asset to the country, compared to what you’ve got at the moment,” he added.

“As to what he’s actually committed, the crimes that he’s actually committed, and work out whether we should have a change or not.”

Asked on BBC Breakfast whether he believed Mr Johnson would lead the Conservatives into the next election, Mr Raab replied: “Yes”.

He added that Partygate had raised “significant issues”, but added: “I don’t think this ends in a leadership challenge”.

Speaking on Sky News, he added that he did not know the number of no-confidence letters sent, but he doubted it was “that high”.

Asked whether there would be a leadership challenge, he replied: “No. I think the Westminster bubble, village, whips this stuff up”.

“To be honest, votes of no confidence, leadership contests, all of that is yet more of Westminster talking to itself, not talking to the public”.

He said questions about whether Mr Johnson broke the ministerial code “have been answered” by the PM.