Michael Gove moved closer to Boris Johnson today amid fierce opposition from Tory Partygate – and claims Downing Street figures persuaded Sue Gray to clarify her report.
The Prime Minister of the Cabinet – who barred Mr Johnson from becoming Prime Minister in 2016 – said he should ‘fight and win’ the next election despite Tory lawmakers’ tricks to withdraw support.
Mr Gove said “no one in government has the power, the will, the vision” to urge the rebels to remain calm.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis insisted Mr Johnson would not face a vote of confidence because it ‘does not interest anyone’.
The move comes as number 10 denies pressuring senior government official Ms Gray to remove details about her secession from her decision last week.
The report painted a grim picture of drunken workers doing karaoke, fighting and vomiting in offices while the whole country was under brutal crackdown.
However, it also stopped criticizing the Prime Minister’s behavior – after police determined he deserved only one fine for a birthday party in the Cabinet Room in June 2020.
Michael Gove (pictured last week) – who ousted Boris Johnson as Prime Minister in 2016 – said he should ‘fight and win’ the next election despite Tory MPs’ tricks to withdraw support.
Sue Gray (right) painted a deplorable picture of drunken workers playing karaoke, fighting and vomiting in offices while another part of the country was subjected to brutal ban. However, it also stopped shortening the personal blame for the behavior of Boris Johnson (left).
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis insisted Mr Johnson would not face a vote of confidence because it ‘does not interest anyone’.
Former Minister Steve Brine yesterday joined lawmakers to confirm that he had submitted a letter of no confidence to Mr Johnson to 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady.
Mr Brine said of Partygate: ‘I have said in this sympathetic saga I cannot and will not defend an irrevocable thing. Lawmakers cannot be lawbreakers. ‘
Newton Abbot MP Anne Marie Morris was also confirmed as one of the letter writers after revealing that she had returned the Tory whip, four months after she was removed in support of the Opposition’s move to cut VAT on energy bills.
Former Prime Minister Bob Neill has also called for Mr Johnson to resign, saying: ‘It is in the national interest that the Conservatives win the next election, but it needs a change of leadership in order to do so.’
Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, considered a future candidate for the Tory leadership, condemned the behavior at number 10 as’ embarrassing ‘, telling Portsmouth News that he was outraged that people were blocking’ reasonable requests for rest. [Covid] sanctions, at the same time they were ignoring the law. ‘
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Tories Committee of the bench, is obliged to order a vote of confidence if he receives 54 letters of demand.
More than 20 lawmakers have publicly stated that they no longer support Mr Johnson but that the actual number of letter writers may be large given that it is a secret process. Sir Graham is proud not to reveal how many letters he has received.
Mr Johnson’s associates suspect that the duration of the letters is being coordinated by supporters of his former rival Jeremy Hunt.
Many rebels are awaiting the results of the by-elections in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton on June 23 before deciding to send letters of no confidence.
Yesterday, a referendum suggested that if elections were held now, Activists would lose all but three of the 88 seats they held for the lower Labor vote. Even Mr Johnson’s Uxbridge seat and Ruislip South would collapse.
Mr Gove told the Sunday Express: “I have every confidence Boris can and should win the next election, and I want him to lead us in that election and I want him to be Prime Minister for as long as possible.”
In an interview on Sky News this morning, Mr Lewis ignored Mr Johnson’s hopes of facing a full vote of confidence.
He told Sophy Ridge On Sunday: ‘I don’t think he will do that.
“I do not think it is in the interest of the country, I do not think it is in the interest of the Conservative Party, and it is clear that I am the person who was the chairman of the party through the previous prime minister who is not just a vote of confidence but I was the chairman. won Mr. Johnson).
‘I have seen this from both sides, I do not think it is for the benefit of anyone.
‘No, I don’t think we’ll see that happen.’
Mr Lewis also said he was ‘absolutely confident’ Ms Gray would not be affected by the kind of report she gave.
“Anyone who has worked at number 10 knows Sue Gray well enough that something like that will not work,” he said.
‘And I am convinced, especially now that No 10 have given assurance and denial that this happened, that Sue Gray was free to write a report which she could easily write and publish.’
The Sunday Times reported that Ms. Gray was pressured by senior members of Mr Johnson’s team to remove details and names.
The so-called ‘Abba Party’ held at the Prime Minister’s flat on November 13 2020 was said to have been ‘changed’ by Mr Johnson’s chief of staff Steve Barclay before it was published.
It is alleged that the original draft of Ms. Gray’s report referred to the music being played and was told when the session ended, but the information was amended.
But sources No10 and the Cabinet Office denied that any changes were made by Mr Barclay, who is also the Duchy Chancellor of Lancaster.
Source 10 stated: ‘It is not true that anyone in the political scene saw anything early or wanted to influence.’
The Cabinet Office denied the allegations that the report was edited due to pressure or that any incidents were not investigated as a result of requests made by the authorities.
They referred to the words of the report in which Ms. Gray explained her reason for suspending her investigation into what happened in the flat that Mr. Johnson shares with his wife Carrie.
Ms Gray found out that the Prime Minister had attended a mid-summit meeting with five special advisers, and ‘food and alcohol are available’.
However, he terminated his job after collecting ‘limited’ information only when the Metropolitan Police began their investigation.
He was not mentioned in his report The Winner Takes It All and other Abba songs reportedly heard crying from the Downing Street residence after the departure of Dominic Cummings, a former prime minister’s adviser, was announced amid a power struggle.
Carrie Johnson was reportedly at the November event but was not mentioned by Ms. Gray in connection with the flat meeting.
The officer said it had not been long since he had been investigating in the evening when Scotland Yard began its criminal investigation and, as soon as the police operation was completed, he ‘concluded that it was not fair or appropriate’ to continue his own questions.
Votes have been clear exposing the Tories and Mr Johnson from Partygate
Mr Johnson, who was given a permanent penalty notice for attending his surprise party in June 2020 but not for any other police investigation, has been questioned by lawmakers and journalists about whether his team members wanted to lobby or edit. parts of the report related to the flat assembly No. 11.
The Prime Minister told a news conference Wednesday: “The first time I saw the report and read it in its entirety – and, to my knowledge, my first team to see it – was when we found it shortly after 10 a.m. this morning.
“The incident involved was a working meeting and … The Metropolitan Police conducted an investigation and that was the result of their investigation.”
The Sunday Times also suggested that senior civil servants – including public service chief Simon Case, secretary general 10 Samantha Jones and Alex Chisholm, general secretary in the Cabinet Office – persuaded Ms Gray not to name the people present. gatherings.
But the Cabinet Office cited the fact that Ms. Gray ended up naming a large number of dignitaries, such as former Prime Minister Martin Reynolds’ secretary general who planned to ‘bring your own liquor’ to the No. 10 garden festival in May 2020 as evidence that he did not restrain himself.