Members of the 1922 committee will meet today at 4 p.m. to decide on changing the rules to allow for an immediate vote of confidence in the prime minister. A source has told express.co.uk that they are likely to agree and that the Chairman Sir Graham will then meet the Prime Minister and tell him to go.
If Mr Johnson declines, the rules will be changed to allow for an immediate vote so the rebels don’t have to win an election to the committee next week.
It is now known that Sir Graham has enough letters from angry Tory MPs to vote right away and the Prime Minister is expected to lose.
A senior Conservative MP said: “It will be an easy choice for Boris. Either he goes with one last bit of credibility or he is forced into disgrace.
“The men in gray suits will visit him and that will be the end.
“Nobody wants to wait a week for this to drag on.”
The unveiling follows the departure of 16 ministers from the government led by Health Minister Sajid Javid and Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
It is clear that Mr Sunak’s replacement, Nadhim Zahawi, was also close to resigning, but agreed to stay when he was offered the job of Chancellor.
Under current rules, a Conservative leader can only go through a vote of no confidence once every 12 months.
Since Mr Johnson survived one last month, he should be able to survive until next year.
But with letters asking for a vote from Tory MPs to Sir Graham and the government apparently in chaos, the pressure for a rule change is mounting.
READ MORE: The exact number of layoffs that Boris Johnson cannot return from
A number of rebellious Tory MPs had planned to run in committee elections next week to ensure the rules were changed.
The final straw for many formerly loyal MPs was the scandal surrounding Chris Pincher, who was forced to resign after allegations that he got drunk at a private club and assaulted two men.
Then it turned out that there were allegations that Mr Pincher goes back 12 years.
In addition, Mr Johnson appointed him Deputy Chief Whip in charge of welfare, despite being informed in 2019 that when Pincher was Secretary of State, he assaulted a man from the department and was forced to apologize.
Johnson admitted he was told, but claimed he had “forgotten” the incident and that it had been a “mistake” to name Pincher.
But a Conservative MP, who had been a loyalist, said: “It’s always the same, the Prime Minister just has no more excuses. You don’t forget that.”
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