Boris Johnson has dramatically fired cabinet rival Michael Gove.
The prime minister met with ministers in Downing Street on Thursday, where he was told he had lost the confidence of the Tory party and could not remain in office.
Mr Gove is said to have told the Prime Minister on Wednesday morning that it was time to stop.
An ally of the prime minister said: The Telegraph Mr Gove ‘has just always been insidious, disloyal, self-obsessed, untrustworthy – take whatever you like’.
A Number 10 source told the BBC: ‘You can’t have a snake not with you in one of the big quarrels, then gleefully informing the press that it has called for the leader to leave. You can’t operate like that.’
Conservative MP Tim Loughton called Mr Gove’s resignation “pretty serious”, with the Prime Minister turning against him.
He told Sky News: “Michael Gove, despite some incidents in recent leadership competitions, has been very much on Boris’ side and Boris has listened to him…
“I think it was Michael Gove who went to number 10 with the metaphorical bottle of whiskey and the revolver. Well, Boris clearly knocked down the whiskey and pointed the revolver at Michael Gove, who would have believed that?”
James Duddridge, a parliamentary private secretary to the Prime Minister, has said Boris Johnson is “confused”.
He appeared live on Sky News and said: ‘He’s upbeat, he’s up for a fight.
“He knows it’s going to be hard, but he’s asked me to leave him in Downing Street, come over here, tell the MPs that he’s listened, that he’s ready for a fight, that he’s going to make some changes, he is going to make a number of cabinet agreements today.’
Mr Duddridge said while some “key appointments” will be made by the Prime Minister, it is “unlikely” that everything will be done tonight.
He said: ‘There is business as usual, things are happening. He has consulted with his cabinet. He stays and he moves forward.’
Mr Johnson’s relationship with Mr Gove has long been troubled, with the Prime Minister’s leadership campaign derailed in 2016 when his rival withdrew his support and decided to lead himself.
But it wasn’t just Mr. Gove who tried to convince Mr. Johnson that his time would end in number 10.
Home Secretary Priti Patel, Home Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis and Wales Secretary Simon Hart were among the cabinet ministers who said Johnson would resign .
Ms Patel is said to have spoken to the Prime Minister to convey the parliamentary party’s ‘overwhelming position’.
Who has resigned from the government so far?
- Sajid Javid – Health Secretary
- Rishi Sunak – Chancellor
- Will Quince – Minister for Children and Families
- Alex Chalk – Solicitor General
- Bim Afolami – Tory Vice-President
- Laura Trott – PPP to the Ministry of Transport
- Andrew Murrison – Trade Envoy to Morocco
- Jonathan Gullis – PPP Secretary for Northern Ireland
- Saqib Bhatti – PPS to the Health Secretary
- Nicola Richards – PPP for the Ministry of Transport
- Virginia Crosbie – PPS to the Welsh Office
- Theo Clarke – Trade Envoy to Kenya
- Robin Walker – Minister of Schools
- John Glen – Economic Secretary to the Treasury
- Felicity Buchan – PPP to the Ministry of Commerce
- Victoria Atkins – Minister of Prisons
- Jo Churchill – Minister of Health
- Stuart Andrew – Home Secretary
- Claire Coutinho – PPS for the Treasury
- Selaine Saxby – PPS for the Treasury
- David Johnston – PPP to Ministry of Education
- Kemi Badenoch – Minister of Equality and Local Government
- Julia Lopez – Minister of Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure
- Lee Rowley – Minister of Industry
- Neil O’Brien – Taking Minister to the Next Level
- Alex Burghart – Minister of Skills
- Mims Davies – Minister of Employment
- Duncan Baker – PPP for the Leveling, Housing and Communities Department
- Craig Williams – PPS to the Treasury
- Rachel Maclean – Home Secretary
- Mark Logan – PPS to the Northern Ireland office
- Mike Freer – Secretary of Export and Equivalency
- Mark Fletcher – PPP at the Department for Business
- Sara Britcliffe – PPP to the Ministry of Education
- Ruth Edwards – PPS to the Scottish Office
- Peter Gibson – PPP at the International Trade Department
- David Duiguid – Trade Envoy to Angola and Zambia
- James Sunderland – PPP at the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
- Jacob Young – PPP at the Leveling, Housing and Communities Department
- James Daly – PPS at the Work & Pension Department
- David Mundell, New Zealand Trade Envoy
- Danny Kruger – PPP at the Leveling, Housing & Communities Department
- Simon Hart – Welsh secretary
- Edward Argar – Minister of Health
Mr Shapps is believed to have told Mr Johnson he had little chance of winning another confidence vote and should instead set a timetable for a departure on his own terms.
Nadhim Zahawi, who was only appointed chancellor on Tuesday, is also said to be among those who took part in the confrontation with Mr Johnson.
But Mr Duddridge denied the reports, saying Mr Zahawi is “strongly behind” the Prime Minister.
The Public Prosecution Service continues: ‘He is going to announce a new economic strategy, which will happen sometime next week.
“But as a tax-cut conservative, I’m very happy to say that there will certainly be tax cuts in that speech. I don’t know the details, we’ll have to wait for that, but that’s the red meat the backbenchers wanted.’
Mr Duddridge said he was not sure why Mr Gove had been fired and said: ‘It is my job not to be disrespectful to colleagues. It’s just to pass the Prime Minister’s vote and say what he’s doing.
“There were questions about what he was going to do after the Downing Street meetings. It is very clear that he is making progress.’
Highlighting the support Johnson received in the 2019 general election, he added: “He has a 14 million mandate from the British public. He has to deliver it now.
“This is not the time to hold stupid elections and look introverted. This is a time to worry about the Ukraine issue, to get the tax cuts, to get the economy back on track and move forward, and he’s really ready.”
Mr Johnson on Wednesday rejected suggestions that he should seek a “more humane exit” and instead fight for his political future – something that could lead to further cabinet resignations.
A source close to the prime minister said he told his colleagues there would be “chaos” if he quit and the party would almost certainly lose the next election.
The source said Mr Johnson “continued to focus on delivering to the public” and addressing the “hugely important issues facing the country”.
Neither Mr Shapps nor Mr Zahawi are expected to resign, despite the Prime Minister’s refusal to leave.
Allies including Culture Minister Nadine Dorries and Brexit Chances Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg all continued to support Mr Johnson.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab also remained loyal to Mr Johnson, defending him at a 1922 backbench committee meeting.
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