Boris Johnson was last night battling to put down a coup attempt by Red Wall MPs.
Ministers rounded furiously on the group of newly-elected Tories after details emerged of their so-called 'Pork Pie Plot' to unseat the Prime Minister.
On a febrile day at Westminster, around 20 MPs are said to have held a secret lunchtime meeting to co-ordinate the submission of the 'no confidence' letters required to spark a Conservative leadership contest.
Senior party sources last night identified Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison and fellow Tory Alicia Kearns as ringleaders. The involvement of Miss Kearns, MP for Melton Mowbray, led to the coup attempt being dubbed the 'Pork Pie Plot'.
Boris Johnson, pictured, last night faced off a so-called 'Pork Pie Plot' to unseat the Prime Minister by newly-elected and Red Wall Tory MPs
Another alleged conspirator, Bury South MP Christian Wakeford, became the seventh Tory to announce he had submitted a letter of no confidence to party shop steward Sir Graham Brady. The plotters are said to have discussed submitting their letters en masse today.
Ministers were outraged because the rebellion came as Mr Johnson was poised to end Covid Plan B measures and figures showed a 'jobs miracle' – with unemployment down to within a whisker of pre-pandemic levels.
A senior Tory source accused Miss Davison, who presents a TV show with former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, of 'madly whipping up the Red Wallers' against the PM.
Dehenna Davison with rescued puppy 'Carter' pictured next to Carrie Symonds with dog Dilyn and Rishi Sunak, canvasing in Bishop Auckland
Senior party sources last night identified Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison and fellow Tory Alicia Kearns (pictured) as ringleaders. The involvement of Miss Kearns, MP for Melton Mowbray, led to the coup attempt being dubbed the 'Pork Pie Plot'
The source also accused the plotters of hypocrisy, claiming that Miss Davison held regular drinking sessions for colleagues in her office.
A Cabinet minister accused new MPs of panicking over a slump in the polls, adding: 'David Cameron and George Osborne were 13 points behind in the polls for three years. As Thatcher said if you aren't behind in the polls mid term you aren't working hard enough as a government.'
Another described the plot as 'pretty sickening', adding that many of the plotters were elected because of Mr Johnson – 'most of them are a load of ******* nobodies'.
On a day of furious briefing and counter-briefing, a senior Tory source claimed that Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey had been involved in agitating against Mr Johnson
However, in a sign of the toxicity enveloping the party last night, a Tory sympathetic to the plotters hit back, saying: 'This is belittling of many MPs that represent people who suffered throughout Covid. If No 10 are looking to repair relations with the new intake after Paterson this is not it.'
On a day of furious briefing and counter-briefing, a senior Tory source claimed that Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey had been involved in agitating against Mr Johnson.
Miss Coffey, who had a bust-up with the PM at Cabinet over the future of the BBC licence fee yesterday, denied involvement. No 10 also said the claim of disloyalty 'did not represent the view of the Prime Minister'.
A Tory source noted that Miss Davison, Miss Kearns and Miss Coffey are all close allies of potential leadership candidate Liz Truss.
The Foreign Secretary was last night embarking on a trip to Australia and an ally said that any plotting was 'not at her behest', adding: 'She is 100 per cent behind the PM.'
The claims came as:
Mr Johnson appeared visibly upset as he spoke of his 'bitter regret' at staff parties in No 10 on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral; Job vacancies hit a record 1.25million as the economy continued to bounce back from the pandemic; Whitehall ethics chief Sue Gray was preparing to interview Dominic Cummings over explosive claims that the PM lied about his knowledge of lockdown parties in No 10; Chancellor Rishi Sunak faced fresh questions about his loyalty after he appeared to break off a TV interview when he was asked whether the PM had his 'unequivocal support'; Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt hinted he could mount another bid for the leadership, saying his ambition 'hasn't completely vanished'; Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said Mr Johnson would have to resign if he was found to have lied to parliament.The plot came as Tory whips struggled to contain anger over the so-called 'Partygate' controversy.
Another alleged conspirator, Bury South MP Christian Wakeford (pictured) became the seventh Tory to announce he had submitted a letter of no confidence to party shop steward Sir Graham Brady
Mr Johnson yesterday broke cover after a self-imposed period of Covid isolation to repeat that he wanted to 'humbly apologise to people for misjudgments that were made' for allowing alleged parties to take place in No 10 during lockdown.
He insisted that he believed a 'bring your own booze' gathering in the garden at the height of lockdown had been a 'work event'.
And he appeared emotional as he issued a public apology to the Queen over revelations that No 10 staff held two raucous parties on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral, where Covid rules meant she had to sit alone.
Breathing heavily behind a mask, he repeatedly declined to say whether he would resign if it was proved he intentionally misled parliament.
His downbeat performance, which was designed to show humility, appeared to harden the mood against him among some Tory MPs.
One former Cabinet minister said: 'If the PM really wants to fight and survive then there is still a route to doing that. But he will have to fight – and it looked like the fight had gone out of him.'
Last night, there were signs that the mutiny was
