A former Conservative attorney general has called for Boris Johnson to resign as prime minister.
Jeremy Wright, the MP for Kenilworth and Southam, said on Monday that the partygate scandal had done “lasting damage” to the party.
He hit out at the “contemptuous attitude” shown by people in Downing Street who chose to break the rules.
“I have therefore, with regret, concluded that, for the good of this and future governments, the prime minister should resign,” Wright said in a statement on his website.
Wright was attorney general under David Cameron and Theresa May. He also served as culture secretary.
Carshalton and Wallington MP Elliot Colburn, who was only elected in 2019, has also submitted a letter calling for a vote of no confidence in Johnson’s leadership.
There has been a drip-drip of Tory MPs demanding Johnson step down following last Wednesday’s publication of the Sue Gray report into Covid rule breaking in Downing Street.
It takes 54 Conservative MPs to formally demand a no confidence vote in the prime minister for a contest to be triggered.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, is the only person who knows the number of letters that have been submitted.
An analysis by Sky News shows so far 25 MPs have publicly called for Johnson to quit.
But the number who have submitted letters could be higher, as there is no requirement for them to make it public.
It came as No 10 failed to deny a report that Carrie Johnson hosted a second party in the Downing Street flat, where she and her husband live, on the day of the prime minister’s 56th birthday.
Earlier in the day on June 19 2020, Boris Johnson was present at an impromptu gathering in the Cabinet Room, which led to him being fined by the Metropolitan Police.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that an unnamed aide claimed to have told Sue Gray’s investigation that they had messages showing Carrie Johnson met “several” male friends that evening, with the PM later heading up to the flat where they were gathered.