Oliver Dowden today insisted Boris Johnson should stay on as Prime Minister as he warned against a 'divisive' Tory leadership contest amid a growing backlash over the Number 10 party row.
The chairman of the Conservative Party said Mr Johnson 'should of course remain as our Prime Minister' despite calls from some of his own MPs for the premier to quit.
Mr Dowden said Mr Johnson 'is committed to upping our game' and 'will address the kind of culture that has allowed' Covid rule-busting events to take place in Whitehall.
Despite backing the PM and warning against a leadership contest, Mr Dowden did fire a broadside at Mr Johnson as he said the Tories 'must do better' because he can 'hear people's anger'.
His comments came as Mr Johnson is said to be planning a policy blitz and a cull of his inner circle as he looks to stabilise his premiership.
Ministers and Tory MPs have told the PM he must take 'full responsibility' for the findings of an official Cabinet Office probe into the Number 10 parties.
Mr Johnson is under growing pressure to right the ship after a new poll gave Labour a 10 point lead over the Tories - the party's biggest advantage since 2013.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains under major pressure over the Number 10 party row as he plots to stabilise his premiership
Labour now has a 10 point lead over the Tories - its biggest advantage over the Conservatives since 2013
Mr Dowden was asked during an interview on Sky News when he will tell the PM that the Conservative Party can no longer afford for him to be in charge.
He replied: ‘Well, I don’t agree with that analysis. I think Boris Johnson should of course remain as our Prime Minister and I will tell you why, it is precisely for the conversation we were just having now.
‘It was the Prime Minister that made that call about having the mass booster programme which has ensured we are getting through the worst of Omicron.
‘At the same time he made the call, despite the huge pressure, you may have remembered this, I recall it, around having a further lockdown in the face of that Omicron variant.
‘He made the right call and that has meant we have managed to have the most open economy in Europe and the most vaxxed economy in Europe, the two are linked together.
‘I think when it comes to those big calls he has made the right call.
‘Now of course I don’t diminish for a second that the kind of events we have seen were totally wrong, I was angered by them, my constituents were angered by them, the whole country was angered by them and it is absolutely right, as the Prime Minister has said, we will get to the bottom of them and I’ll tell you that when he responds to the House of Commons as he has committed to doing so he will make sure that we will address the kind of culture that has allowed that to happen in the first place.’
Asked what Mr Johnson could possibly say to improve the situation, Mr Dowden said: ‘It is important that we first get to the fact of everything that happened.
‘The Prime Minister has already apologised in respect of one event that happened. We need to get all the facts, that is what Sue Gray is doing through her report, we need to look at how that stacks up against the rules at the time and then the Prime Minister needs to respond to that.
‘Now, you won’t expect me to get into the detail of that response but what I can tell you from the many conversations I have had with the Prime Minister and what you saw from him in the House on Wednesday is that he is committed to upping our game.
‘We must improve the culture. We must do better. I hear people’s anger, I know it and we have got to respond to that.’
The battering Mr Johnson has received in recent weeks has prompted growing speculation of a potential leadership challenge, with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak viewed as his most likely successors.
But Mr Dowden said now is not the time for a leadership contest as he said voters want the Government to focus on the nation's recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
‘I do
