A senior Tory MP has declared Boris Johnson is a “dead man walking” after the prime minister admitted attending a party at Downing Street.
Sir Roger Gale said it was clear Johnson “misled” parliament and that he had left MPs in an “impossible situation”.
It comes after Johnson apologised but defended his actions by saying he believed the bash was a “work event” permitted under the rules.
“Unfortunately what the prime minister has said today leaves people like me in an impossible situation,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One.
“We now know that the prime minister spent 25 minutes at what was quite clearly a party. That means that he misled the house.
“I fear that it is now going to have to be the work of the 1922 (Committee) to determine precisely how we proceed.
“If you look at the twitter-sphere after prime minister’s question time today, it sounds to me, I am afraid, very much as though politically the Prime Minister is a dead man walking.”
The prime minister had been under intense pressure to divulge whether or not he attended the party in the No10 garden on May 20, 2020.
Some Conservative MPs have gone on the record with their fury, with red wall MP Christian Wakeford saying: “How do you defend the indefensible? You can’t!
“It’s embarrassing and what’s worse is it further erodes trust in politics when it’s already low. We need openness, trust and honesty in our politics now more than ever and that starts from the top!”
Welsh secretary Simon Hart was the first cabinet minister to break ranks on Downing Street party row, saying he accepted lockdown parties at Downing Street had caused “frustration, hurt and indignation”.
WalesOnline reported he said: “We have to get to the bottom of this. Judgement will need to be made about what happens next.”
Tory backbencher Nigel Mills warned that any senior figure who willingly attended the event could not have a position setting Covid-19 policy.
Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said if Johnson misled parliament “then he must resign”.
Johnson has ordered an inquiry by senior civil servant Sue Gray who is looking into multiple claims of social gatherings in government during covid restrictions.
Despite huge public and press interest, the PM, his ministers and official spokesman have refused to go into details while Gray’s investigation is ongoing.