Conservative MPs have reportedly drafted no confidence letters in Prime Minister Boris Johnson ready to send the day after the local elections.
Mr Johnson continues to face calls to resign after receiving a fixed penalty notice for his role in the Partygate scandal.
And Tory MPs, who are beginning to turn against their leader, are now drafting letters of no confidence in the PM ready to be sent to the Chairman of the 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady, on May 6, according to the Telegraph.
The news comes just days after Tory MP Mark Harper called for Mr Johnson to step down during his Partygate apology speech in the House of Commons.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Marc Ward
Mr Johnson is facing an increased number of calls to resign
REUTERS
The MP for Forest of Dean and former chief whip said: "I regret to say that we have a Prime Minister who broke the laws that he told the country they had to follow, hasn’t been straightforward about it.
"And [he] is now going to ask the decent men and women on these benches to defend what I think is indefensible.
"’I'm very sorry to have to say this, but I no longer think he is worthy of the great office that he holds.”
Responding to Conservative former chief whip Mark Harper, Mr Johnson said: “I must say to (him), I know the care and the sincerity with which he weighs his words and I bitterly regret what has happened.
“I bitterly regret the event in Downing Street as I have said, but I do believe that it is the job of this Government to get on with the priorities of the British people and that is what we’re going to do.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs: “Let me begin in all humility by saying that on April 12 I received a fixed penalty notice relating to an event in Downing Street on June 19 2020.
“I paid the fine immediately and I offered the British people a full apology, and I take this opportunity on the first available sitting day to repeat my wholehearted apology to the House.”
Shouts of “resign” could be heard in the Commons.