question moment held this week in Barnsley, with Fiona Bruce chairing the panel, which included Conservative MP for Bishop Auckland Dehenna Davison, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, Daily Telegraph columnist Tim Stanley, former Tony Blair press secretary Alistair Campbell and musician Winston Marshall .
An audience member hit back at the P.M‘s behavior during the pandemic and the party gate debacle, with Mr Johnson and then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak receiving fines from the Met.
She said: “What you said about ‘all he did was eat cake’, that doesn’t apply to a lot of people I know who looked at friends and family in the hospital and weren’t allowed to say goodbye to them.
“A very good friend of mine, her grandmother died in the hospital and she was not allowed to visit her.
“How can you downplay that and say he only ate cake?
“He completely destroyed the reputation of the Tory party in my view because it was one rule for them and another for everyone else.”
She received a round of applause from other onlookers in Barnsley, an area known for its support for Labour.
Another man agreed with his views on the prime minister, admitting that his views on Mr Johnson “hadn’t really changed”.
He said: “I see him as a despicable, poisonous, manipulative liar with all the morals of a polecat.
“My fear is that we now have a leadership election among the Tories, I think we will end up with another jockey riding the same old dead horse.
Former Prime Minister Sir John Major has called on Deputy Dominic Raab to take over as interim leader until a new one is elected.
Johnson has vowed to remain in place until the new leader is elected, despite pressure from other Tories to evacuate his post immediately.
Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Common Foreign Affairs Committee, was one of the first to confirm that he is throwing his hat in the ring for the top job.