The leader of the Scottish Conservatives and one of the party’s most senior backbenchers have publicly called for Boris Johnson to resign over a lockdown-busting party in Downing Street, heaping intense political pressure on the prime minister. While Johnson apologised for attending the event in May 2020, claiming he believed it was a “work event”, many Conservative MPs said they remained unsatisfied by a carefully worded explanation at prime minister’s questions. Douglas Ross, who spoke to Johnson on Wednesday, became the first senior Tory figure to call publicly for the prime minister’s immediate departure. “Regretfully I have to say that his position is no longer tenable,” he told reporters. He was followed by William Wragg, vice-chair of the powerful 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, who said fellow MPs were “frankly worn out from defending what is invariably indefensible”. “For their sakes at least the prime minister should see that and do the right thing,” Wragg told BBC Radio 4.
In his comments, Ross said he had demanded an explanation after an email emerged on Monday from the prime minister’s principal private secretary inviting colleagues to “socially distanced drinks” on 20 May 2020 during the first Covid lockdown. Ross said: “What we also heard from the prime minister today was an apology. And he said, with hindsight, he would have done things differently, which for me, is an acceptance from the prime minister that it was wrong, and therefore, I don’t want to be in this position, but I am in the position now where I don’t think he can continue as he leader of the Conservatives. “The evidence is clear. People were invited to bring their own booze, to enjoy the garden in Downing Street and that is by any definition a party, a gathering that wasn’t allowed and therefore the prime minister broke his own rules.” Ross said it is up to the prime minister how quickly he stood down and it was up to other MPs whether they pressed for a motion of no confidence in him. Nearly two-thirds of Scottish Tory MSPs have now publicly called for Johnson to quit.
Wragg indicated Johnson should depart soon, saying the “constant distraction” of stories such as those about the party was affecting the government of the nation and unfairly damaging the names of other MPs. While Johnson has said people should wait for an inquiry into a series of alleged lockdown parties led by senior official Sue Gray, Wragg said it would be unfair to expect her to effectively decide Johnson’s future. He said: “As colleagues are saying to one another and off the record, I sadly think that the prime minister’s position is untenable. “I don’t believe it should be left to the findings of a civil servant to determine the future of the prime minister, and indeed who governs this country. I think it is for the Conservative party, if not the prime minister in fact, to make that decision and to realise what is in the best interests so that we can move forwards both as a party and the country.” However, other Tory backbenchers said Johnson’s account had bought him the right to wait for the investigation, which could report as soon as next week. Dan Poulter said he was “pleased” Johnson had apologised but it was “not much consolation to those of us who cared for patients on the frontline of the NHS and saw them die of Covid”. He said the inquiry should be conducted “very quickly” and “should the PM be found to have actively misled parliament or if he faces criminal sanction (or both) then his position would be untenable”. The former health minister Stephen Hammond told the BBC he welcomed the fact Johnson had shown “some transparency” in admitting mistakes had been made. But he questioned Johnson’s explanation that he “believed implicitly” the booze-fuelled gathering where he spent 25 minutes was a “work event”. In a brief statement as prime minister’s questions kicked off, Johnson said that he joined the 20 May event for about 25 minutes from around 6pm, saying that, with the No 10 garden being used as “an extension of the office” amid lockdown, he believed it was a work event. Cabinet ministers appeared to be rallying round Johnson in public. Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said “the PM did the right thing by apologising”. The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, said he was “right to personally apologise” and “the inquiry should now be allowed to its work and establish the full facts of what happened”. Michael Gove retweeted this and wrote “Nadine is right”. The justice secretary, Dominic Raab, gave an interview supporting Johnson’s “clear account” of the party. Join our journalists for a Guardian Live online event on the No 10 lockdown party and Boris Johnson’s future on Wednesday 19 January. Book here