Sunday 5 June 2022 10:46 AM Grant Shapps insists PM WON'T face crunch vote this week and shrugs off boos ... trends now
One of Boris Johnson's Cabinet allies today poured cold water on feverish speculation that the Prime Minister will face a crunch vote on his political future in a matter of days.
Grant Shapps dismissed suggestions that Mr Johnson will face a confidence vote among Tory MPs when they return to Westminster from tomorrow.
The Transport Secretary insisted - even if the PM were to face a vote on his leadership among Conservative MPs - he would win.
And he also shrugged off the impact of Mr Johnson being booed by Jubilee crowds, claiming the incident was being 'over-interpreted'.
A steady stream of Tory MPs have submitted letters of no confidence in the PM following the publication of Sue Gray's Partygate report last month.
The senior civil servant blamed 'senior leadership' at the top of Government for Covid rule-breaking in Downing Street.
Despite MPs being away from Westminster over the past week for their half-term recess, many continued to publicly reveal they had submitted no confidence letters to Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the powerful 1922 Committee.
A total of 54 letters are required to be handed to Sir Graham before the PM faces a confidence vote in his leadership.
It has been claimed that mark has already been reached, with one Tory rebel telling the Sunday Times that as many as 67 letters have gone in.
This has led to claims that Wednesday has already been pencilled in as the date for a vote on Mr Johnson's future.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps insisted - even if the PM were to face a vote on his leadership among Conservative MPs - he would win
Boris Johnson was booed by Jubilee crowds as he arrived, with his wife Carrie, at St Paul's Cathedral on Friday for a thanksgiving service
One Tory rebel claimed as many as 67 letters of no confidence have been submitted to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady
But Mr Shapps, speaking to the BBC's Sunday Morning programme, said he didn't think
