X-Cabinet minister David Davis said Mr Johnson had failed to take responsibility for the breaches of lockdown in Downing Street, and he had enough of taking the flak for him. ‘In the name of God, go!’ he said.
A visibly shaken Mr Johnson insisted he was not going to resign, urging people to ‘wait for the outcome’ of the inquiry by senior civil servant Sue Gray. But it was another hammer blow as Westminster reels from Christian Wakeford’s announcement that he was leaving for Labour.
The Bury South MP – who has a wafer-thin 402 majority in the Red Wall seat – had already announced he had put in a letter of no confidence in Mr Johnson. And he was on the Opposition benches wearing a Union Jack face mask.
In a parting shot letter to the premier, Mr Wakeford branded his leadership ‘disgraceful’ and said he believed Labour would do more to tackle the cost of living crisis.
Sir Keir goaded Mr Johnson in the Commons that any more defectors were ‘welcome’, saying the Tories had shown they were ‘incapable’ of governing the country.
And he was on the Opposition benches wearing a Union Jack face mask.